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Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on February 25, 2005
Human Reproduction 2005 20(6):1596-1606; doi:10.1093/humrep/deh811
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions{at}oupjournals.org

High magnitude of light retardation by the zona pellucida is associated with conception cycles

Y. Shen1,2, T. Stalf1, C. Mehnert1, U. Eichenlaub-Ritter3,4 and H.-R. Tinneberg1,2

1 Centre of In-Vitro-Fertilisation (CIF) in the Justus-Liebig-University, 2 Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Women's Hospital, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, D-35392 Giessen and 3 University of Bielefeld, Faculty of Biology IX, Gene Technology/Microbiology, D-33501 Bielefeld, Germany

4 To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: eiri{at}uni-bielefeld.de

BACKGROUND: Failures in expression of zona proteins correlate to subfertility in animals. Low expression of the zona proteins by the growing human oocyte may indicate reduced developmental potential. Therefore, we non-invasively analysed the thickness and the structure of the zona pellucida (ZP) of human oocytes with respect to embryo fate after ICSI. METHODS: Retardance magnitude and thickness of the inner, middle and outer layers of the ZP were quantitatively analysed by a Polscope in 166 oocytes selected for transfer after ICSI (63 patients; 32.8±4.4 years) on the basis of pronuclear score at day 1. Blastomere number was determined at day 2. Data were compared between conception cycles (CC; 65 oocytes/23 patients) and non-conception cycles (NCC; 101 oocytes/40 patients) and with respect to maternal age. RESULTS: The thickness was slightly elevated (P<0.001), and the mean magnitude of light retardance was nearly 30% higher (P<0.001) in the inner layer of the zona pellucida of oocytes contributing to CC compared to NCC. Embryos in the CC group tended to develop faster. CONCLUSIONS: The magnitude of light retardance by the zona pellucida inner layer appears to present a unique non-invasive marker for oocyte developmental potential.

Key words: conception/human oocyte/ICSI/Polscope/zona pellucida


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