title: A fatty acid profiling method using liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry for improvement of assisted reproductive technology.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) can be useful to improve in vitro fertilization (IVF). This study aims to find out an association between embryonic growth and embryonic uptake of free fatty acid (FFA) from culture media by using LC-HRMS.
  
  
  METHODS
  Embryos (n=55) from 15 couples undergoing IVF were studied. An embryo was cultivated for up to 6 days in a 20 μl-medium drop under mineral oil, and classified by a morphological grading system into the good-growth group (n=32; good quality blastocysts) and the poor-growth group (n=23; non-blastocysts). The control study was set up without embryo. Extracted ion chromatogram of FFAs was collected in negative-ion mode for each medium sample obtained after use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The percent change from control to sample in mass area for docosahexaenoic acid showed a decrease in the good-growth group than that in the poor-growth group (p<0.05). Decrease in %change of docosahexaenoic acid might indicate proper embryonic growth. Similar but insignificant change was observed for other essential FFAs, but not for non-essential FFAs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The proposed metabolomic approach using LC-HRMS might be a powerful tool for non-invasive evaluation of embryonic growth.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita-12, Nishi-5, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan; Kamiya Ladies Clinic, Kita-3, Nishi-2, Sapporo 060-0003, Japan.
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yagi
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita-12, Nishi-5, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan.
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miyanaga
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita-12, Nishi-5, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan.
authors.forename: Rojeet
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shrestha
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita-12, Nishi-5, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan.
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita-12, Nishi-5, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan.
authors.forename: Seiichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita-12, Nishi-5, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan.
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chiba
authors.affiliation: Kamiya Ladies Clinic, Kita-3, Nishi-2, Sapporo 060-0003, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirobumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kamiya
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University, Kita-12, Nishi-5, Sapporo 060-0812, Japan. Electronic address: keino@hs.hokudai.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Shu-Ping
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Hui
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000196:embryology; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D005227:Fatty Acids
keywords: Docosahexaenoic acid; Essential fatty acid; In vitro fertilization; Infertility; Lipid; Orbitrap