Detrimental effects of endometriosis on oocyte morphology in intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycles: a retrospective cohort study

Abstract

While an association can be addressed among endometriosis and subfertility, the causal relationship has not been elucidated yet. Impaired oocyte quality in endometriosis patients has been accused for the unsuccessful outcomes of assisted reproductive techniques. There are limited studies in literature evaluated association between endometriosis and oocyte morphology. We conducted this retrospective study to evaluate whether morphological abnormalities of oocytes are more common in women with endometriosis than women with diagnosis of male factor infertility as a source of healthy oocytes. Totally 1568 oocytes, 775 (49.4%) in endometriosis groups and 793 (50.6%) in control group were evaluated for morphological parameters before ICSI cycles. Abnormal oocyte morphology was detected in 352 (22.4%) of 1568 oocytes. Of the abnormal oocytes, 208 (59.1%) were in endometriosis group and 144 (40.9%) in control group (p < .001). The following dysmorphisms were significantly higher in oocytes retrieved from endometriosis group: dark cytoplasm; dark, large or thin zona pellucida; and flat or fragmented polar body (p <  .05 for all). When morphological parameters for oocytes of endometriosis patients evaluated, the oocyte defects has increased significantly in endometriosis patients. These findings are thought to be useful to clarify the subfertility in endometriosis patient, which needs to be confirmed with further studies.

Chinese abstract

虽然子宫内膜异位症和不孕症有关, 但是具体的因果关系尚未阐明。子宫内膜异位症患者的卵母细胞质量受损被认为是导致辅助生殖技术失败的原因。文献中对子宫内膜异位症与卵母细胞形态学之间的关系进行了有限的研究。我们进行了这项回顾性研究, 以评估子宫内膜异位症患者是否比那些诊断为男性因素不育的女性作为健康卵母细胞来源的卵母细胞形态异常更常见。一共1568颗卵母细胞, 775颗（49.9%）子宫内膜异位症组和793颗（50.6%）对照组, 在ICSI周期前进行了形态学参数评价。在1568颗卵母细胞中发现352个（22.4%）异常形态的卵母细胞。异常卵母细胞中子宫内膜异位症组208颗（59.1%）, 对照组144颗（40.9%）（p < 0.001）。子宫内膜异组获取的卵母细胞下列形态学异常明显升高：黑核, 暗, 大或薄透明带, 平或分散的极体（均p < 0.05）。在对子宫内膜异位症患者卵母细胞形态学进行评估时, 细胞缺陷显著增加。这些结果被认为对阐明子宫内膜异位症患者的不孕具有价值, 需要进一步的研究证实。

Keywords:

• Endometriosis
• oocyte morphology
• infertility
• intracytoplasmic sperm injection

Disclosure of interest

Authors declared no conflicts of interests.