Volkan Baltaci

Oogonial Precursor Cell-Derived Autologous Mitochondria Injection to Improve Outcomes in Women With Multiple IVF Failures Due to Low Oocyte Quality: A Clinical Translation.

Background: Mitochondrial dysfunction has been suggested as a major cause of age-induced decline in oocyte quality. In the past, donor oocyte cytoplasmic transfer showed some success but was abandoned due to the concerns with heteroplasmy. Recent studies indicated presence of oogonial precursor cells (OPCs) in the human ovary, which could be an autologous source of “healthy mitochondria.” We sought to investigate the clinical efficacy of OPC-derived autologous mitochondrial injection (AMI) to improve oocyte quality in women with multiple in vitro fertilization (IVF) failures. Methods: The OPCs were isolated from laparoscopically obtained ovarian cortical pieces by cell sorting using a monoclonal anti-vasa homolog (anti-DDX) antibody. They were then disrupted and mitochondria were isolated. Reconstituted mitochondria were injected into each oocyte during intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Paired comparisons were made between the first failed cycles and the post-AMI cycles. Results: Of the 15 women undergoing ovarian stimulation, 2 were canceled and 3 decided to pool oocytes for later AMI. In remaining 10 (mean age 34.7 ± 4.1), AMI significantly improved fertilization rates (49.7 ± 31.3 vs 78.3 ± 18.9; P = .03) with a trend for better embryo grades (2.3 ± 0.3 vs 3.1 ± 0.7; P = .08). Four of 10 women conceived after single frozen embryo transfer and 3 after confirmation of diploidy via array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) (clinical pregnancy/embryo transfer = 4/10). Conclusion: These data show encouraging results for AMI in comparison to previous failed IVF cycles.

Assessment of cytogenetic aberrations and comet assay in colorectal adenocarcinomas.

Aims, Background and Study Design Few studies have investigated the karyotypes of colorectal carcinomas with emphasis on the correlation between cytogenetic findings and clinicopathologic features. The aim of our study involving 20 colorectal adenocarcinomas was to determine their genomic alterations at the chromosomal level by correlating the cytogenetic findings with the extent of DNA damage and clinicopathologic parameters and to compare the results with those of healthy controls. Results Cytogenetic evaluation of patients and controls revealed 10 abnormal karyotypes in patients with adenocarcinomas located in the rectum, sigmoid and rectosigmoid regions. Four had numerical and six had structural abnormalities. Conclusions Statistical analysis revealed a significant difference compared with controls (P <0.01). The karyotypes and the extent of DNA damage assessed by the comet assay were also significantly correlated with tumor stage (P <0.01) using the Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test, while no statistical significance was observed in relation to patient age and smoking.

Detection of IL-1β in culture media supernatants of pre-implantation human embryos; its relation with embryo grades and development.

In this study, we aimed to determine whether human embryos secrete interleukin-1β (IL-1β) into culture media and its correlation with embryo grade and development. Culture media supernatants of 100 embryos obtained from 39 cycles of 38 patients and cultivated individually were collected 2 and 3 days after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). IL-1β concentrations of samples were determined with ELISA and compared with embryo grades and blastomere numbers. Embryo grades and the amount of IL-1β they secreted were found not to be correlated (p:0.559). Numbers of blastomeres each embryo had at 2nd and 3rd days were found to be correlated with IL-1β secreted (p:0.00 and p:0.00, respectively). Mean amount of IL-1β secreted by the embryos from ejaculated sperm cycles were found to be significantly higher than that of embryos from TESE cycles (p:0.016). Patient age and etiology of infertility were not correlated with the amount of IL-1β secreted and embryo grade. In conclusion, preimplantation human embryos secrete IL-1β in their media in amounts correlated with their blastomere numbers.