New treatment that regenerates eggs ‘DOUBLES the chances of IVF working’
Currently, about 35 per cent of IVF cycles result in a pregnancy and a whopping 50,000 women undergo the treatment in Britain every year
THE success rate of IVF, particularly for older women, could soon be doubled after a breakthrough by scientists.
They hope that by discovering how to regenerate human eggs, they will be able to help more couples realise their dreams of being parents in future.
By making use of genetic material that normally goes to waste, the scientists found they could give the eggs or oocytes a new lease of life.
The material comes from small cells called 'polar bodies' that form from eggs and contain the same DNA as in the nucleus of the egg.
The discovery has the potential to revolutionise fertility treatment – especially when it comes to treating older potential mums.
Currently, about 35 per cent of IVF cycles result in a pregnancy and a whopping 50,000 women undergo the treatment in Britain every year.
Dr Shoukhrat Mitalipov, of Oregon Health and Science University, said: "We know fertility declines as women get older.
“This is potentially a way to double the number of eggs we're able to get from one session of in vitro fertilisation."
Until now, polar bodies had never been shown to be potentially useful when it comes to generating functional human eggs for fertility treatments.
In this new study, scientists successfully transplanted a polar body from a woman's developing oocyte into a donor egg that was stripped of its nucleus.
While this new technique may be years away from progressing to clinical trials, it could eventually be important for women of advanced maternal age.
This could be an important step forward as mums continue to have babies later in life.
The average age of first-time mothers increased in the United States from 21.4 years in 1970 to 25.0 years in 2006.
The average age of first time mothers in England and Wales was 28.5 years in 2014 - compared with 26.4 in 1975.
Professor Joseph Ecker, of the Salk Institute, La Jolla, California, said: "Although it was only possible to examine a limited number of lines, from the point of view of epigenomic profiles, the quality of polar body-derived embryonic cells looks quite promising."
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The study, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, found by rescuing polar bodies that would otherwise simply bud off the developing egg, it was possible to form additional oocytes genetically related to the mother through nuclear transfer.
When fertilised with sperm, the new oocytes developed into viable embryos.
However, none of the embryos were implanted to carry out an actual pregnancy.
"Normally, polar bodies disintegrate and disappear during egg development.
"We were able to recycle them. We hope that by doing this, we can double the number of patient eggs available for in vitro fertilisation”, explained Dr Hong Ma, from Oregon Health and Science University.
Dr Ryan O'Neil, of the Salk Institute, added: "This is the first investigation into the surprising viability of human polar bodies and it reveals a new source of previously discarded genetic material to study."
In addition to potentially benefiting older mums-to-be, the technique may help those with mutations in their mitochondria - the tiny powerhouses inside cells, which can lead to disease in children.
Dr Mitalipov continued: "This new technique maximises the chances of families having a child through in vitro fertilisation free of genetic mutations."
He previously developed a mitochondrial replacement therapy involving the implantation of patient's egg nucleus, or spindle, into a healthy donated egg stripped of its original nucleus.
Dr Mitalipov has also previously successfully demonstrated the spindle transfer technique in the healthy offspring of rhesus macaque monkeys.