Prospective randomized multicentre comparison on sibling oocytes comparing G-Series media system with antioxidants versus standard G-Series media system

ABSTRACT Research question Does the inclusion of three antioxidants (A3), Acetyl-L-Carnitine (ALC), N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine (NAC) and α-Lipoic Acid (ALA) improve human embryo development and pregnancy potential? Design Prospective randomized multicentre comparison on sibling oocytes. A total of 1,563 MII oocytes from 133 patients in 2 IVF centres. Day 3 embryo and day 5/6 blastocyst quality were assessed. Good embryo quality on day 3 was defined as 8 to 10-cells with even cells and low fragmentation; good quality blastocysts as equal or greater than 3BB. Clinical outcome was assessed on transfers of a single fresh or vitrified-warmed embryo on day 5. Results Of the 2PN, 40.7% (G-Series) and 50.3% (G-Series with A3 group) resulted in good quality embryos on day 3 (P Conclusions The presence of antioxidants during IVF and embryo culture for patients 35 to 40 years resulted in a significant increase in implantation and pregnancy rate. Supplementation of antioxidants to IVF and culture media may therefore improve the viability of human embryos in ART, plausibly through the reduction of oxidative stress.