Co-culture with granulosa cells does not increase the fertilization rate in couples with previous fertilization failures.
Ten couples included in our in-vitro fertilization programme, selected because of one of more previous total fertilization failures or a low fertilization rate (< 20%), were entered in an experimental protocol of egg insemination on autologous granulosa cells. Half the oocytes from each patient were randomly assigned to either a control or a co-culture group. We observed no difference in the fertilization rate between the control (16.2%) and co-culture groups (12.1%). Only two couples benefited from this technique since fertilization was obtained only in co-culture. The poor efficiency of this protocol led us to propose the use of sperm micro-injection if all classical attempts to improve fertilization were unsuccessful.
Plachot
M
M
U173 INSERM, Hôpital Necker, Paris, France.
Mandelbaum
J
J
Junca
A M
AM
Antoine
J M
JM
Salat-Baroux
J
J
Cohen
J
J
D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006107:Granulosa Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D009865:Oocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D017211:Treatment Failure