The birth of a healthy child in a married couple with a history of multiple unsuccessful attempts at ART by selecting sperm on oocyte-cumulus complexes. Case report

In male infertility, couples must use assisted reproductive technologies with the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) technique. A significant disadvantage of ICSI is bypassing natural selection barriers since selective processes in the female reproductive tract are replaced by the choice of an embryologist based on sperm motility and morphological criteria. Various selection methods are being actively studied, bringing fertilization by ICSI closer to physiological, ensuring the selection of sperm with high DNA quality and good potential for fertilization. The article presents a clinical case of the birth of a healthy child in a married couple with severe male infertility and many ineffective attempts at assisted reproductive technologies using the method of sperm selection on oocyte-cumulus complexes. The child is physically healthy and develops according to age

The relationship of seminal transforming growth factor-β1 and interleukin-18 with reproductive success in women exposed to seminal plasma during IVF/ICSI treatment

It has been proposed that the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 present in seminal plasma (SP) triggers a female immune response favorable for implantation. We hypothesize that seminal interleukin (IL)-18, a cytokine that can potentially cause implantation failure, interferes with the beneficial effect of TGF-β1. This study aims to determine whether the levels of seminal TGF-β1 and IL-18 are associated with reproductive outcomes in patients exposed to SP during in vitro fertilization (IVF) or IVF with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). A prospective study, which included 71 couples undergoing IVF/ICSI was carried out. Female patients were exposed to their partners’ SP via timed intercourse before the day of ovum pick-up (OPU) and also subjected to intravaginal SP application just after OPU. Quantitative measurements of total TGF-β1 (active plus latent) as well as IL-18 were determined by FlowCytomix™ technology in the SP to be used for intravaginal applications. Comparison of SP cytokine profiles between pregnant and non-pregnant groups revealed that pregnancy was correlated with a lower concentration of IL-18 (P = 0.018) and lower content per ejaculate for both of IL-18 (P = 0.0003) and TGF-β1 (P = 0.047). The ratio of TGF-β1-to-IL-18 concentration was significantly higher in the pregnant than in the non-pregnant group (P = 0.026). This study supports the notion that two key cytokines TGF-β1 and IL-18, both present in SP are associated with reproductive outcomes in female patients exposed to SP during IVF/ICSI treatment