Study finds reason behind failed IVF attempts
Posted on: 26/Jan/2016 10:37:56 AM
A study published in the journal Scientific Reports says that scientists have discovered how an IVF treatment may be successful. According to the study, there is a genetic pattern in the womb that determines that success of the IVF, or In Vitro Fertilisation, process. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Southampton in the UK.
Speaking about the research, the scientists said, It (the study) could also lead to the development of a new test to help patients understand how likely they are to achieve a pregnancy before they embark on the treatment process and to guide others on whether or not they should continue even after a number of unsuccessful cycles... Many women undergo a number of IVF cycles without success despite having good quality embryos and, up to now, it has been unclear whether or not the lining of the womb may be the cause of that... We have now shown that an abnormal gene expression in the lining can be identified in many of these women and that a specific gene fingerprint, when present, is always associated with failure, which is very significant in aiding our understanding of IVF failure.
The biopsies of the lining of the womb from 43 women were studied. These women had failed implantation several times. They also studied the biopsies of 72 women who had given birth after IVF or intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). They found that 80 percent of the women with recurrent implantation failure had an abnormal gene profile in the lining of the womb. This profile was not present in the lining of the womb of the women who had successful births through IVF or ICSI.
Say the researchers, What this tells us is that a large proportion of women who suffer recurrent implantation failure may be infertile due to a problem with the receptivity of their uterus. Their chances of achieving successful pregnancy are likely to be very small and this information gives clinicians much more clarity in counselling patients as to the wisdom of investing further time, effort and money in ongoing treatment... At the same time, those patients who have undergone a number of unsuccessful cycles of IVF but do not have the genetic pattern could be advised to persist as they have a much better chance of achieving a pregnancy.
