Oocyte quality is a key limiting factor in female fertility which is primarily reflected in morphological features. Centrally located cytoplasm granulation (CLCG) is one type of cytoplasmic dimorphism exhibited by oocytes that could be linked to pesticide exposure with a significant risk of decreased ICSI outcomes. This retrospective study included 633 women who were part of an intracytoplasmic spermatozoa injection (ICSI) program between 2009 and 2011. The participants lived in the Picardy region of France and had been exposed to pesticides. The participants were divided in two groups based on prevalence of oocytes with CLCG (LCLCG [n = 83]: low prevalence of oocytes with CLCG under 25%. HCLCG [n = 68]: high prevalence of CLCG over 75%). The embryological and clinical outcomes were analysed for both groups and were calculated using the difference between the two values. Results for couples with HCLCG compared to LCLCG showed a decrease in embryo cleavage, ongoing pregnancy, and live birth rates (82%, 14%, 13% vs 99%, 32%, 30%, respectively).The early miscarriage rate was increased (47% vs 11%), with an OR of 3.1 (95%CI [2.1–4.1]). Due to high pesticide exposure (over 3000 g/ha), there is a higher risk of a resulting disturbed oocyte cohort with a high prevalence of CLCG over 75%. The high prevalence of oocytes with CLCG over 75% has a negative effect on embryos and the general ICSI clinical outcomes. Furthermore, a putative association between pesticide exposure and risk of CLCG was identified, justifying the need for further research and a potential need to find alternative assisted reproductive technologies for these couples. Tabacfertimasc. ID number: ID2011-A00634–37 ; registered 2011/2/8

Introduction: Oocyte quality contributes to the development of an optimal embryo and thus a successful pregnancy. The objective of this study was to analyse the association between oocyte cohort quality and the follicular levels of growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25OHD), thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (fT3), free thyroxine (fT4) and antithyroid antibodies, as a function of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) outcomes.Material and methods: We conducted a prospective comparative pilot study from January 2013 to December 2017. 59 ICSI cycles constituted an abnormal oocyte cohort (n=34 cycles, in which more than 50% of oocytes presented at least one morphological abnormality) and a normal oocyte cohort (n=25 cycles, in which 50% or less of the oocytes presented at least one morphological abnormality). GH, IGF1, 25OHD, TSH, fT3, fT4 and antithyroid antibodies were measured in follicular fluid.Results: The fertilisation rate was lower in the abnormal oocyte cohort (65.5%vs.80%, respectively, p=0.012). Oocytes’ proportion with at least one abnormality was 79.4% in the abnormal oocyte cohort and 29.0% in the normal oocyte cohort. The mean number of morphological abnormalities per oocyte was significantly higher in the abnormal oocyte cohort. The follicular levels of GH (4.98vs.2.75 mIU/L, respectively; p <0.01) and IGF1 (72.1vs.54.2 ng/mL, respectively; p=0.05) were higher in the normal oocyte cohort. There was no association with follicular levels of TSH, fT3, fT4, antithyroid antibodies, or 25OHD.Conclusion: Oocyte cohort quality appears to be associated with follicular levels of GH and IGF1.

Objective(s): Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI), affecting 1% of women, is characterized by the loss of ovarian activity with amenorrhea or oligomenorrhea and increased gonadotropins occurring before the age of 40 years. Iatrogenic, autoimmune, and genetic causes are known to be involved in POI, but nearly 70% of all forms remain unexplained. Recent and new genetic analyses promote the identification of new candidate genes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the contribution of array-CGH and next-generation sequencing (NGS) in the diagnosis of POI. Study design: Twenty-eight idiopathic POI patients with primary or secondary amenorrhea underwent genetic screening by array-CGH and NGS using a custom capture design of 163 genes known or suspected to be involved in ovarian function. The clinical, biological, and ultrasound characteristics of the patients were also recorded. Results: Four of the twenty-eight patients had primary amenorrhea (14.3%), and twenty-four (85.7%) had secondary amenorrhea, with an average age at diagnosis of 27.7. Eleven patients (39.3%) had a family history of POI. Our study identified a genetic anomaly in 16 of 28 patients (57.1%): one patient carried a causal copy number variation (CNV), eight patients carried a causal single nucleotide variation (SNV)/indel variation (28.6%), and seven other patients carried variants of uncertain significance. Conclusions: Our study was the first to combine genetic analyses by using both array-CGH and NGS in the same patients. It confirmed the usefulness of both analyses in the identification of pathogenic variations responsible for idiopathic POI. Early genetic diagnosis plays a major role in the management of complications and the screening of relatives.