Clarendon Wing, Leeds General Infirmary
Maturation of fertilisation of human eggs in vitro (R0104)
Licence holder: Dr Adam Balen
Standard IVF treatment involves the use of a complex combination of drugs to stimulate the ovaries in order to collect mature eggs (oocytes). In each menstrual cycle a woman produces a certain number of follicles, which are the egg containing cystic structures within the ovary. In a natural cycle one follicle usually ovulates and releases an egg and the others disappear. In an IVF cycle drugs are used to stimulate all the available follicles.
The drug protocol can take anything from 2-6 weeks and is associated with potential side effects. After egg collection the mature eggs are placed with sperm in the laboratory in order to achieve fertilisation.
An alternative procedure is to collect eggs from ovaries which have not been stimulated with as many hormone injections and to then attempt to mature the eggs (oocytes) in the laboratory ("in vitro maturation").
The research aims to explore the best way to achieve this and to study the maturation of eggs in the laboratory setting. The potential advantage is minimising the woman's exposure to hormone treatment.
The eggs that reach the appropriate stage of maturation will be fertilised and then observed for up to seven days during which time they will undergo various tests to examine their health, nutrition, growth and genes, after this the remaining cells will be destroyed.
One group of patients with a condition called polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have a large number of follicles in their ovaries and are at particular risk of a condition called ovarian hyperstimulation, when the ovaries over-respond to the drugs used for IVF treatment. Women with polycystic ovaries may benefit from in vitro maturation as this will enable a lower dose of drugs to be used and hence minimise the risks of overstimulation.
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Page last updated: 11 April 2009