INFLUENCE OF BMI AND FSH ON MORPHOKINETICS OF HUMAN EMBRYOS IN WOMEN UNDERGOING IVF TREATMENT
STEFKA NIKOLOVA*, RUMIANA GANEVA, MIRAY IBRYAMOVA, IVKA IVANOVA, KRISTINA NIKOLOVA, DIMITAR PARVANOV, GEORGI STAMENOV, TODOR CHAUSHEV
Nadezhda Women’s Health Hospital, 3 “Blaga vest” Street, Sofia, Bulgaria
*Corresponding author: s.nikolova@nadezhda.bg
Keywords: time-lapse, morphokinetic biomarkers, human embryos, BMI, FSH
Abstract: We have studied 308 embryos, from 123 patients undergoing standard ICSI treatment. Their BMI and basal FSH values were recorded. After ICSI procedure all oocytes were cultured in EmbryoscopeТМ. Fifteen morphokinetic parameters were annotated: time of pronuclei appearance (tPNa), time of pronuclei fading (tPNf), cleavage times (t2, t3, t4, t5, t6, t7, t8, t9), morulae formation time (tM), starting blastulation (tSB), full blastocyst stage (tB), expansion and hatching timing). Patients were divided by BMI into an underweight group (BMI < 18.5 kg/m2), a normal weight group (18.5 kg/m2 < BMI < 25 kg/m2) and overweight/obese group (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2). Spearman correlation analysis was performed for each group. Analysis revealed positive correlation between FSH and tPNf, t2 and t4 in women with normal weight (R=0.18, p=0.03; R=0.17, p=0.04 and R=0.18; 0.03). In contrast, in the underweight group of patients the serum levels of basal FSH correlated significantly with tM and tSB. Moreover, in the overweight group we found a significant negative correlation between FSH and t7 (R=-0.25, p=0.05), t9 (R=0.38, p=0.01) and tM (R=-0.29, p=0.05). In conclusion, FSH levels have a specific influence on embryo morphokinetics in relation to BMI. It seems that in patients with normal weight FSH has an impact on initial stages of embryo development, while in underweight and overweight women it has a significant effect on later events.