title: Secretion of human leukocyte antigen-G by human embryos is associated with a higher in vitro fertilization pregnancy rate.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether secretion of soluble human leukocyte antigen-G (HLA-G) by human embryos is associated with embryo development and IVF pregnancy outcome.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective study.
  
  
  METHODS
  In vitro fertilization program affiliated with a university research center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Infertile couples attending an IVF program were selected.
  
  
  METHODS
  Embryo culture conditioned medium (72 hours) from cases in which intracytoplasmic sperm injection was used for fertilization.
  
  
  METHODS
  Soluble HLA-G in embryo culture medium samples from IVF patients was assayed and associations between soluble HLA-G secretion and outcome measures were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two hundred seventy of 386 samples had detectable soluble HLA-G. Soluble HLA-G secretion was independent of embryo grade or patients' age. The cleavage rate of embryos secreting soluble HLA-G was significantly higher than that of those lacking it (blastomere number 6.71 +/- 0.09 vs. 5.86 +/- 0.22). The live birth rate from embryos with soluble HLA-G was significantly higher than that of those without (48.4% vs. 17.1%, chi(2) = 9.09). Combining soluble HLA-G detection and cleavage rate was most predictive of pregnancy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our five conclusions are as follows: [1] embryonic secretion of soluble HLA-G protein is variable, [2] secretion of HLA-G is correlated with a higher cleavage rate, [3] secretion of HLA-G is associated with a higher pregnancy rate, [4] HLA-G secretion is a better independent predictor than cleavage rate alone, and [5] the combination of soluble HLA-G detection and high cleavage rate was the best predictor of outcome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Ontartio, Canada.
authors.forename: Shang-mian
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Yie
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Balakier
authors.forename: Gelareh
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Motamedi
authors.forename: Clifford L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Librach
mesh_terms: D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000378:metabolism*; D059951:HLA-G Antigens; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D018873:Pregnancy Rate; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D006680:HLA Antigens; D059951:HLA-G Antigens; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I