Mitochondrial DNA testing in IVF: Is it the Next Great Advance? | Infertility TV

We are always looking for ways to improve the success of IVF. Dr. Morris discusses what might be the next leap forward

Hello this is Dr. Randy Morris. I am a Board Certified Fertility Expert and the Medical Director at the world renowned IVF1 fertility center in Naperville, Illinois. I'm here with the second of three special editions of Infertility TV.

Recently the international infertility conference known as ESHRE wrapped up in Helsinki Finland. ESHRE is the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. Meetings such as this one allow physicians and scientists to present their latest research to their peers.

These meetings can serve as an early indicator of which directions fertility treatment may go in the future, what new technologies may become valid treatments and which ones were not able to withstand the rigors of scientific scrutiny.

In today’s special ESHRE Episode, we are going to talk about selecting IVF embryos using mitochondrial DNA

Here’s the question - What would IVF experts like me - wish we were able to do? The answer - Be able to accurately identify which embryos would produce a baby and which ones wouldn’t

Turns out that is pretty hard to do. But we are getting better. In the beginning, we looked at embryos under the microscope. A decade later, we started looking for embryos with chromosome abnormalities. Initially, we could only look at five chromosomes. Now we can look at all 23 pairs of chromosomes. However, many embryos which look great under the microscope and have the normal number of chromosomes still don’t produce a viable pregnancy. So the worldwide search is on for other methods to find healthy embryos.

Okay. So it turns out that every cell has thousands of these little oval shaped structures called mitochondria. Mitochondria produce the energy needed for a cell to function. Mitochondria have their own DNA and can duplicate themselves anytime. If a cell needs more energy, the mitochondria can increase their numbers to produce more energy.

Some scientists have theorized that poor quality embryos need a large amount of energy as they try to make themselves better and thus would have higher amounts of mitochondrial DNA. In fact, it was found that embryos from older women and embryos with chromosome abnormalities both had high levels of mitochondrial DNA.

At ESHRE, Dr Epida Fragouli presented the results of a study she and her colleagues completed. They transferred a single embryo into the uterus of 111 women. Each embryo looked normal under the microscope and had the correct number of chromosomes. 70% of these women became pregnant. Every one of these embryos was then found to have low levels of mitochondrial DNA. The remaining 33 patients did not get pregnant. One quarter of those embryos had high levels of mitochondrial DNA.

So bottom line is this: If an embryo has low levels of mitochondrial DNA it might produce a pregnancy or might not. But if it has high levels of mitochondrial DNA, it is very very unlikely that it will produce a pregnancy.

Mitochondrial DNA assessment might be the 3rd method we use to screen out bad embryos and improve the chances that the ones we put into the uterus will produce a viable pregnancy.

We hope you liked these ESHRE special episodes of Infertility TV. Come back next week as we return to our regular Infertility TV format. If you liked this video remember to like “THIS” video and share it in your support groups and on your favorite social media channels

Do you have a topic or question you would like answered on Infertility TV? Let us know in the comments. You dont want to miss any episodes so subscribe to Infertility TV now and visit our website at ivf1.com


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