The Effect of Embryo Culture Under Low Oxygen Tension on Pregnancy Rates

Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad, IVI VALENCIA

Status: Completed

Conditions: Low Oxygen Tension

Treatments: Other: Decreased oxygen concentration

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01532193

0903-C-059-MJ

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study will determine whether the use of low oxygen tension during "in vitro" embryo culture may increase the pregnancy rates in women undergoing egg donation.

Full description

As far as oxygen (O2) tension is concerned, both oocytes and embryos from different mammalian species included the human are normally surrounded by values which are much less than half of atmospheric O2, ranging from high (8.7% O2) in the rabbit oviduct, rabbit and hamster uterus, to as low as 11 mm Hg (1.5% O2) in the monkey uterus. Even in the preovulatory follicle, oocytes are bathed within follicular fluids containing oxygen that range from > 1 to 5.5 % The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact the effect of low oxygen tension after day-3 embryo transfer in our egg donation programme on pregnancy and implantation rates.

Enrollment: 380 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 25 to 45 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Women aged 25-45 years of age;
• In good mental and physical health;
• First or second of egg-recipient treatment;
• Embryo transfer on Day 3.
• One to three embryos will be transferred.
• BMI between 18-25 kg/m2.

Exclusion criteria

• Uterine pathology or hydrosalpinx
• Recurrent miscarriage
• No chronic illnesses

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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380 participants in 2 patient groups

Hipoxia

Experimental group

Description:

The low oxygen tension group

Treatment:

Other: Decreased oxygen concentration

Control group

No Intervention group

Description:

Conventional culture conditions