Monthly IVF research brief for February 2025

Here you’ll find a brief summary of new IVF studies for February* that I think are helpful for patients. I’ll be updating this post each week of February with new studies, before making a separate post for next month.

*Note that the publication dates of these studies might be outside of the indicated period, mostly because of how PubMed indexes the article.

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Week 1 (Jan 28 to Feb 3)

Prenatal diagnosis following preimplantation genetic testing (PGT): recommendations of the Italian Society of Human Genetics (SIGU). This document, drafted by experts from the Italian Society of Human Genetics, provides best practice recommendations and diagnostic algorithms for managing pregnancies achieved through preimplantation genetic testing based on the latest literature and international guidelines.

PGT-A: what’s it for, what’s wrong? This article reviews the purpose, limitations, and ethical concerns of PGT-A in IVF and ultimately suggests that it should no longer be offered to infertile couples.

Resveratrol and Female Fertility: A Systematic Review. This systematic review suggests that resveratrol, a natural compound with multiple health benefits, may improve female fertility by enhancing ovarian function, though further research is needed to determine optimal dosage and safety.

A cycle-based model to predict no usable blastocyst formation following cycles of in vitro fertilization in patients with normal ovarian reserve. This study developed a nomogram (calculator) that predicts the risk of no usable blastocyst formation in IVF patients with normal ovarian reserve based on the number of day 3 embryos, high-quality day 3 embryos and embryos used for blastocyst culture.

Antioxidant therapy for infertile couples: a comprehensive review of the current status and consideration of future prospects. This review examines how oxidative stress impairs fertility in both men and women by damaging sperm and disrupting ovarian function, and it evaluates the potential and challenges of antioxidant therapy as a treatment for infertility.

Oocytes with impaired meiotic maturation contain increased mtDNA deletions. This study found that eggs maturing to M2 have fewer mitochondrial DNA deletions than those arrested at earlier stages, suggesting that proper maturation helps remove harmful mtDNA mutations.

Week 2 (Feb 4 – Feb 10)

The effect of endometriosis on oocyte quality: mechanisms, diagnosis and treatment. This study reviews current literature to evaluate the impact of endometriosis on egg quality, examining potential causes, diagnostic challenges and management strategies.

The role of granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor in female assisted reproductive technology treatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis. This meta-analysis combines the results of studies that examine the impact of GM-CSF on reproductive outcomes in women undergoing assisted reproductive technology, revealing that while randomized trials show no effect, non-randomized studies suggest GM-CSF may improve pregnancy-related outcomes.

Shortening time to pregnancy in infertile women by personalizing treatment of microbial imbalance through Emma & Alice: A multicenter prospective study. This study evaluates the effect of EMMA and ALICE on pregnancy outcomes in women with recurrent implantation failure or pregnancy loss, showing that these techniques improve pregnancy rates by addressing uterine dysbiosis.

The effects of growth hormone on the outcomes of in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer in age-grouped patients with decreased ovarian reserve: a prospective cohort study. This study investigates the impact of growth hormone (GH) on IVF outcomes in patients with decreased ovarian reserve across different age groups, finding that GH significantly improves embryo quality and increases live birth rates, specifically in patients aged 35-40 years.

Does double cryopreservation as well as double biopsy affect embryo viability and clinical outcomes? Evidence from a systematic review of the literature. This study assesses the impacts of double freezing and re-biopsy on embryo viability and clinical outcomes in IVF, revealing that both procedures can reduce live birth rates and may negatively affect embryo competence, suggesting they should be used cautiously.

The numbers of biopsied cells in routine clinical process of preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) do not affect the pregnancy outcomes of embryos. This study examines whether the number of cells biopsied from the trophectoderm for PGT affects pregnancy outcomes, finding that different biopsy sizes don’t significantly impact biochemical or live birth rates in embryos tested for PGT-M.

Correlations among hope, fertility quality of life and negative emotions for couples undergoing their first in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer: a cross-sectional analysis. This study explores the relationships among hope, fertility quality of life, and negative emotions in patients undergoing their first IVF treatment, finding that higher levels of hope are associated with better fertility quality of life and fewer negative emotions, and that these factors are interrelated within couples.

Week 3 (Feb 11 – 17)

Current quantitative methodologies for pre-implantation genetic testing frequently misclassify meiotic aneuploidies as mosaic. This study reveals that a third of embryos labeled as mosaic by NGS-based PGT-A contain meiotic errors, suggesting potential misclassification and highlighting the need for improved diagnostic accuracy in distinguishing between meiotic and mitotic origins.

Key factors influencing clinical pregnancy rates in frozen-thawed single euploid embryo transfers: an artificial intelligence-based approach. This study investigated the ability of AI models to predict factors affecting clinical pregnancy rates after transferring a euploid, identifying seven key factors including previous cycle count, AMH levels, endometrial thickness, post-thaw embryo grade, maternal age, number of frozen embryos, and endometrial preparation method.

Human oocyte zona pellucida abnormalities: evaluation of clinical impact for different zona pellucida abnormalities and role of using assisted hatching. This study investigated the impact of an abnormal zona (shell that surrounds the egg) on IVF outcomes, finding that these eggs had a reduced ability to form blastocysts and that laser-assisted hatching can improve outcomes for some types of abnormalities.

Beyond the egg: sperm source does not impact cumulative live birth rates in autologous oocyte cryopreservation patients when adjusted for oocyte age. This study assesses the impact of sperm source (partner vs. donor) on cumulative live birth rate, oocyte survival, and usable embryo rates in patients undergoing autologous oocyte cryopreservation, finding no significant differences between the two groups.

Long-term risk of endometrial cancer after assisted reproductive technology. This long-term study found no increased risk of endometrial cancer in women who underwent ART treatments in the Netherlands from 1983 to 2001 compared to the general population and subfertile women not treated with ART.

Week 4 (Feb 18 – Feb 24)

The ART-ET screening tool: an easy-to-use non-invasive screening method to predict difficult embryo transfers in advance. Difficult embryo transfers are associated with reduced pregnancy rates and can be accurately identified using the ART-ET screening tool, which relies on transvaginal ultrasound scores and patient history. The tool identified that 8.8% of transfers are difficult, and more research is needed to improve success rates for these cases.

Parental conditions, modifiable lifestyle factors, and first trimester growth and development: a systematic review. This review highlights factors that impact first trimester fetal growth and development. Smoking and BMI had a negative effect on fetal growth, while folic acid had a positive effect.

Success rates with preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy in good prognosis patients are dependent on age. This study used US clinic data from SART and found that PGT-A improves cumulative live birth rates in individuals aged 35-40 years but slightly reduces them in those under 35. Another analysis with only freeze-all cycles found that PGT had higher cumulative live birth rates for women 35 and older, and no difference for those <35.

Stress management through cognitive reconstruction and positive thinking in women with recurrent failed In Vitro Fertilization: a randomized controlled trial. A study demonstrated that positive thinking counseling and cognitive reconstruction significantly reduced stress levels in women experiencing recurrent failed IVF cycles.

How Many Babies Have Been Born with the Help of Assisted Reproductive Technology? An analysis by the International Committee for Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technology estimates that between 9.8 and 13 million babies were born globally using ART from 1978 to 2018, highlighting ART’s profound societal impact and mainstream medical status.

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About Embryoman

Embryoman (Sean Lauber) is a former embryologist and the founder of Remembryo, an IVF research and fertility education website. After working in an IVF lab in the US, he returned to Canada and now focuses on making fertility research more accessible. He holds a Master’s in Immunology and launched Remembryo in 2018 to help patients and professionals make sense of IVF research. Sean shares weekly study updates on Facebook, Instagram, and Reddit regularly. He also answers questions on Reddit or in his private Facebook group.

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