Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Jan-Mar;20(1):3-9.

Effect of Artificial Oocyte Activation on Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection Outcomes in Patients with Lower Percentage of Sperm Containing Phospholipase Cζ: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Hamid Nazarian  1 , Nahid Azad  1   2 , Leila Nazari  3 , Abbas Piryaei  1   4 , Mohammad Hassan Heidari  1 , Reza Masteri-Farahani  1 , Maryam Karimi  5 , Marefat Ghaffari-Novin  5
Affiliations

Effect of Artificial Oocyte Activation on Intra-Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection Outcomes in Patients with Lower Percentage of Sperm Containing Phospholipase Cζ: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Hamid Nazarian et al. J Reprod Infertil. 2019 Jan-Mar.

Abstract

Background: Artificial oocyte activation (AOA) is a specialized method in assisted reproductive technique (ART). According to increasing concern about using AOA, it is necessary to evaluate sperm-borne oocyte activating factors (SOAFs) including phospholipase C zeta (PLCζ). In this study, PLCζ before AOA was evaluated first and then the impact of AOA on pre-implantation embryo development was investigated.

Methods: This prospective clinical trial enrolled couples subjected to ICSI. By evaluating PLCζ, semen samples were categorized into two groups; I (Control) and II (PLCζ deficient). Retrieved oocytes from partners were put into three categories: control group (Injected with sperm from group I, n=113), group without AOA (Injected with sperm from group II and no exposure to AOA, n=106), and group AOA (Injected with sperm from group II and exposure to AOA, n=114). Finally, fertilization results were compared via Kruskal-Wallis followed by Dunn's multiple comparison test. The p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: Fertilization rate was significantly lower in the group without AOA compared to control group (41.9±6.3 vs. 78.1±4.7, p<0.001). AOA improved fertilization rate in group AOA compared to the group without AOA (69.5±3.9 vs. 41.9±6.3, p<0.01); however, cleavage (91.7±2.8, 90.9±4.6, and 95.2±3.4, respectively) and embryo quality (2.5±0.1, 2.3±0.2, and 2.4±0.2, respectively) scores were not substantially different between groups of control, with and without AOA.

Conclusion: We showed that PLCζ can be considered as a good biomarker in evaluation of oocyte activation capability. Further studies are required to establish the best use of PLCζ as a biomarker in clinics.

Keywords: Artificial oocyte activation; Biomarker; Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection; Phospholipase C zeta; Sperm.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
PLCζ immunofluorescence staining. The sperm nuclei are counterstained with DAPI. A: Merged DAPI and bright field images. B: Anti-PLCζ immunofluorescence. C: Merged DAPI and PLCζ stains. Bar=10 μm
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Comparison of fertilization rate, cleavage score, and embryo quality score between control, without AOA, and AOA groups. *** p<0.001 and **** p<0.0001, significant differences
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Tosti E, Menezo Y. Gamete activation: basic knowledge and clinical applications. Hum Reprod Update. 2016;22(4):420–39. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Amdani SN, Yeste M, Jones C, Coward K. Sperm factors and oocyte activation: current controversies and considerations. Biol Reprod. 2015;93(2):50. - PubMed
    1. Vadnais ML, Gerton GL. From PAWP to “Pop”: opening up new pathways to fatherhood. Asian J Androl. 2015;17(3):443–4. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Swann K, Lai FA. PLCzeta and the initiation of Ca(2+) oscillations in fertilizing mammalian eggs. Cell Calcium. 2013;53(1):55–62. - PubMed
    1. Ramadan WM, Kashir J, Jones C, Coward K. Oocyte activation and phospholipase C zeta (PLCzeta): diagnostic and therapeutic implications for assisted reproductive technology. Cell Commun Signal. 2012; 10(1):12. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources