Effect of sperm DNA fragmentation on the embryo quality and pregnancy outcomes in different female ages undergoing IVF-ET
Objective The study aims to investigate the implications of sperm DNA fragmentation on embryo quality and pregnancy out-comes in different female ages undergoing IVF-ET.Methods Performed a retrospective analysis of clinical data from 3 053 cycles that under-went IVF-ET at Women and Children's Hospital,School of Medicine,Xiamen University,from January 2019 to December 2022.Participants were categorized into two groups based on the male partner's sperm DFI:a normal DFI group(DFI<30%)and a high DFI group(DFI ≥30%).Further stratification was carried out based on the age of the female participant(<35 years old and ≥35 years old).Outcome meas-ures included total fertilization rate,normal fertilization rate,high-quality embryo rate,blastocyst formation rate,high-quality blastocyst rate,biochemical pregnancy rate,implantation rate,clinical pregnancy rate,abortion rate,and live birth rate.Results When the female age was<35 years old,the male age in the high DFI group[(33.10±4.35)years]was significantly higher than that in the normal DFI group[(31.14±3.50)years](t=-4.95,P<0.05),sperm vitality(33.94±15.96)%and normal sperm morphology rate(10.03±4.21)%were significantly lower than those in normal DFI group[(48.80±15.35)%,(11.54±4.62)%](t=10.47,3.26,all P<0.05),the high-quality embryo rate(23.3%),blastocyst formation rate(67.3%)and high-quality blastocyst rate(14.4%)in high DFI group were significantly lower than those in normal DFI group(27.7%,70.8%and 20.2%)(x2=13.00,5.50 and 13.26,all P<0.05).When the female age was ≥ 35 years old,the number of transplantable embryos in high DFI group was significantly lower than that in normal DFI group(P<0.05),the total fertilization rate(73.0%),normal fertilization rate(59.7%)and blastocyst formation rate(55.5%)in high DFI group were significantly lower than those in normal DFI group(78.0%,65.8%and 67.3%)(x2=7.75,8.97 and 13.75,all P<0.05),the abortion rate in high DFI group(35.0%)was significantly higher than that in normal DFI group(20.8%)(x2=4.01,P<0.05).No significant differences were observed between groups for biochemical pregnancy rate,implantation rate,clinical pregnancy rate,and live birth rate(P>0.05).Conclusion DFI exerts adverse effects on embryo quality in IVF-ET among women of varying ages.Although it doesn't markedly influence pregnancy and live birth outcomes,it may increase the risk of miscarriage in older women.
Sperm DNA FragmentationIVF-ETEmbryo Quali-tyLive Birth Rate