A prospective study to evaluate the gender prediction of blastocysts by using cell-free DNA within a culture medium.

Abstract

Background:

Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) has been used as an option for couples with the possibility of having a baby with a genetic disorder. The common method for performing this test involves isolating 1 cell from day 3 or a few cells from day 5 embryos and performing genetic studies on the cell-extracted DNA. This method is invasive and can cause abortion after implantation in the uterus. Because of this, 2 noninvasive methods for performing a PGD have been studied: PGD using blastocyst fluid and PGD using embryo culture medium.

Objective:

The aim of this study is to determine the sensitivity of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique to detect the Y chromosome using cell-free DNA within a culture medium for gender prediction of blastocysts.

Materials and Methods:

In this study, the gender of 30 embryos on day 5 was determined using embryonic DNA extraction from the culture medium and the PCR technique to evaluate the sex-determining region Y and fragile X mental retardation genes. Then, the accuracy was assessed using ultrasound.

Results:

The results of the PCR technique showed that 7 embryos were male, but an ultrasound revealed that 13 were male.

Conclusion:

The given results indicated that, because of the low amount of DNA extracted from the culture medium, the diagnosis of the existence of the Y chromosome by this method is still not accurate enough for detecting the gender of the embryo.

• Authors: Somayeh Barzanouni, Farideh Moramezi, Mahvash Zargar, Hamid Galehdari, Masoud Hemadi
• Journal: International journal of reproductive biomedicine (Int J Reprod Biomed) Vol. 20 Issue 7 Pg. 561-568 (Jul 2022) ISSN: 2476-4108 [Print] Iran
• PMID: 36187736 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2022 Barzanouni et al.