Abstract
Vol.39 No.2
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Mitochondrial function of human embryos decreases with maternal age
JMOR, 39(2) 75-80, 2022
The fertility of women decreases with age because of an increase in the incidence of aneuploidy, and a putative decrease in the mitochondrial activity of oocytes. The relationship between maternal aging and the mitochondrial function of their embryos remains unknown. Here, we assessed the relationship between maternal age and mitochondrial function in oocytes and embryos as well as the effect of L-carnitine on mitochondrial function. Although there were no direct relationships between maternal age and copy numbers of mitochondrial DNA at any embryo stage, the oxygen consumption rates (OCRs) of morulae decreased with maternal age. In a retrospective analysis, the development rate decreased from morulae to blastocysts along with maternal age. Addition of L-carnitine to the culture medium significantly increased the OCRs of morulae and improved the morphologically good blastocyst formation rate per zygote compared with sibling embryos. Twenty-nine healthy babies were born from embryos cultured in L-carnitine-supplemented medium after single embryo transfers. Thus, mitochondrial function in morulae decreased with maternal age, and we suggest that L-carnitine is a promising culture medium supplement that might be able to counteract this.
