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
. 2023 May 19;15(5):e39210.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.39210. eCollection 2023 May.

Efficacy of Hyaluronan-Enriched Transfer Medium for Low-Grade Frozen Embryo Transfer

Yoriko Horiuchi  1 , Atsushi Yanaihara  1 , Shota Hatakeyama  1 , Yukino Taga  1 , Tetsurou Kondou  2 , Goro Kuramoto  3 , Shirei Ohgi  1
Affiliations

Efficacy of Hyaluronan-Enriched Transfer Medium for Low-Grade Frozen Embryo Transfer

Yoriko Horiuchi et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Research question: This study aimed to retrospectively evaluate the efficacy of a hyaluronan-enriched transfer medium (HETM) for transfer failures and transfer of frozen embryos that have been graded as C at the time of transfer according to the Gardner classification of trophectoderm (TE).

Design: This study included 365 cycles of unsuccessful frozen-thawed embryo transfers in hormone replacement cycles graded C according to the Gardner classification of TE at the time of transfer. Clinical pregnancy rates were compared using the χ2 test, with the patients divided into two groups: one whose transfers did include HETM (HETM group) and one whose transfers did not include HETM (control group). As a subgroup analysis, patients with a TE grade of C at the time of transplantation were divided into two groups: those aged 39 years or younger and those aged 40 years or older at the time of transplantation. The clinical pregnancy rates of the groups with and without HETM were then compared.

Results: No difference in the clinical pregnancy rates between the HETM and control groups was observed.

Conclusions: Hyaluronic acid is believed to favor implantation by promoting adhesion between the embryo and the endometrium, and there are reports of improved implantation and pregnancy rates as a result of HETM. However, the present results suggest limited effectiveness for HETM. Further case series should be conducted, and the suitability of its use as a treatment should be investigated.

Keywords: assisted hatching; cd44; frozen embryo transfer; gardner classification; hyaluronan-enriched transfer medium.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Hyaluronate binding proteins also bind to fibronectin, laminin and collagen. Turley E, Moore D. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1984;121:808–814. - PubMed
    1. Expression of two isoforms of CD44 in human endometrium. Behzad F, Seif MW, Campbell S, Aplin JD. Biol Reprod. 1994;51:739–747. - PubMed
    1. CD44 is expressed throughout pre-implantation human embryo development. Campbell S, Swann HR, Aplin JD, Seif MW, Kimber SJ, Elstein M. Hum Reprod. 1995;10:425–430. - PubMed
    1. Temporal variation in the distribution of hyaluronic acid, CD44s, and CD44v6 in the human endometrium across the menstrual cycle. Afify AM, Craig S, Paulino AF. Appl Immunohistochem Mol Morphol. 2006;14:328–333. - PubMed
    1. Hyaluronic acid in embryo transfer media for assisted reproductive technologies. Heymann D, Vidal L, Or Y, Shoham Z. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2020;9:0. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources