Autologous Mitochondrial Transfer in ICSI to Improve Oocyte and Embryo Quality in IVF Patients. Pilot Study

Autologous Mitochondrial Transfer as a Complementary Technique to ICSI to Improve Oocyte and Embryo Quality in IVF Patients. Pilot Study

The principle objective is to improve embryo quality through autologous micro-injection of mitochondria isolated from Ovarian stem cells into the oocytes themselves, as a complementary ICSI technique in patients with low embryo quality in previous IVF cycles and in those who did not bear children.

This improvement in embryo quality will be determined through on-going pregnancy rate after treatment and/or improvement in embryo quality according to morphological (ASEBIR-"Association for the study of Biology in Reproductive Science), morphokinetic criteria and in Preimplantation Genetic Screening.

Using an adaptive design, retrieved oocytes of approximately 60 patients will be randomized in the first part of the study to two treatment groups; standard ICSI procedure without mitochondrial supplementation and ICSI with autologous mitochondrial supplementation. Following an interim analysis of outcomes, an additional 130 patients may be added, for a total of 190 patients.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Infertility
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Autologous mitochondria with ICSI; Other: STANDARD ICSI PROCEDURE

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 59
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Spain
  • Valencia, Spain, 46015
    • IVI Valencia

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 16 years to 40 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• The patients must have read, understood and signed the ICF.
• Age ≤ 42 years.
• Serum AMH ≥ 4 pM/L.
• Previous IVF cycle with 5 or more metaphase II oocytes after retrieval
• BMI < 30.
• Will undergo an IVF cycle with arrays in Preimplantation Genetic Screening.
• Semen sample with concentrations exceeding 3 million/mL progressive motile sperm.

Present with a history of at least one previous cycle of IVF with embryo transfer and no pregnancy due to low embryo quality. Low embryo quality is understood as > 70% of the embryos obtained being included in the worst prognosis category according to any of the following criteria:

1. Low or abnormal Fertilization Rate despite semen count > 3 million/mL.

2. Deficient quality embryos according to morphological criteria established by ASEBIR:

   i. Embryo D2 and D3: classified as Type C or Type D according to ASEBIR criteria.

   ii. Embryo D5 or blastocyst: Inner cell mass absent, with few cells and difficult differentiation, Trophectoderm with very few cells. Type C or D of ASEBIR.

3. Embryos of deficient quality according to morphokinetic criteria established (28) for EmbryoScope Time-Lapse if this incubator has been used.

   i.Category 4: Embryos of 1 or 2 pronuclei (PN) formed from 1 to 2 cells at 27h, from 2 to 6 cells on D2 and 4 or >8 cells or morula on D3. The embryo can present with asymmetrical and multinucleated blastomeres. Degree of fragmentation < 50%.

   ii. Category 5: Embryo with any number of cells at 27h, on D2 and D3. Asymmetrical, multinucleated blastomeres and any degree of fragmentation. Atretic embryos and those with arrested embryo development belong to this category.

4. All cases without embryo transfer due to any chromosomal abnormality detected through PGD or PGS techniques.
5. All cases without transfer due to the presence of embryos that present a blockage of embryo development before D3.

If the morphological quality criteria established under points 2, 3 and 4 give contradictory results, the result obtained through PGD/PGS (point 4) will prevail over the morphokinetic parameters (point 3) and this, in turn, will prevail over the classic morphological criteria (point 2).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Formal contraindication for ovarian cortex biopsy or follicle puncture.
• Severe male factor (concentration<3 million/mL of progressive motile sperm).
• Any characteristic incompatible with carrying out a new IVF cycle at IVI Valencia.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: ICSI with mitochondria; Half of the Metaphase II oocytes retrieved after the controlled ovarian stimulation will be randomized to this group and autologous mitochondria from the patient's ovarian cortex will be introduced into the oocyte during the intracytoplasmic sperm injection in the vitro fertilization treatment.	Other: Autologous mitochondria with ICSI; Autologous mitochondria during the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) process will be added to this randomized group of oocytes.
Active Comparator: Control ICSI without mitochondria; The other half of the metaphase II oocytes retrieved after the controlled ovarian stimulation will be randomized to this group and will not receive autologous mitochondria during the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in the vitro fertilization treatment. Control Group	Other: STANDARD ICSI PROCEDURE; STANDARD ICSI PROCEDURE

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Rate of ongoing pregnancy	12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad, IVI VALENCIA
• Investigators: Study Director: Elena Labarta, MD PhD, Gynecologist Specialist TRA, IVI Valencia; Principal Investigator: Antonio Pellicer, MD PhD, Gynecologist specialist TRA, President IVI Valencia

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Labarta E, de Los Santos MJ, Herraiz S, Escriba MJ, Marzal A, Buigues A, Pellicer A. Autologous mitochondrial transfer as a complementary technique to intracytoplasmic sperm injection to improve embryo quality in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization-a randomized pilot study. Fertil Steril. 2019 Jan;111(1):86-96. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2018.09.023. Epub 2018 Nov 24.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 1, 2015
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 1, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): July 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 21, 2015
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 22, 2015
• First Posted (Estimate): October 26, 2015

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 23, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 22, 2017
• Last Verified: August 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Infertility
• Other Study ID Numbers: 1501-VLC-005-AP

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No