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Aim: It has been suggested that the position of the sperm after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has an effect on the development and quality of the embryo. In this study, we retrospectively examined whether pronucleus stage evaluation used through clinical studies in recent years has relevance with regard to sperm location.

Background: Steroid levels have been used as the predictive parameters for oocyte maturation and embryo development. In the present study, estradiol and progesterone concentrations in the follicular fluid and serum were evaluated in conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF; follicle stimulating hormone [FSH] and/or human menopausal gonadotropin [hMG] after pituitary desensitization) and friendly IVF (no stimulation, clomiphene citrate, small dose of FSH or hMG without pituitary desensitization). The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the differences in steroid distribution between conventional and friendly IVF.

Aim: It has been suggested that the position of the sperm after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) has an effect on the development and quality of the embryo. In this study, we retrospectively examined whether pronucleus stage evaluation used through clinical studies in recent years has relevance with regard to sperm location. Methods: From 2003 to 2005, 1285 oocytes from 459 patients (average age: 36 years) were retrospectively analyzed. The 459 patients underwent ICSI because of fertilization disorders and oligozoospermia. Follicle stimulation was via either Clomid or the long protocol. Human chorionic gonadotropin was administered to induce ovulation and oocyte retrieval was conducted 35 h later. After confirming the presence of a polar body, we immobilized the ovum at the 6 o'clock position, introduced the injection pipette at the 3 o'clock position and carried out ICSI. Results: When a sperm was located at a position that was opposite to the polar body, both classifications of Scott and Tesarik regarding embryo quality were distinctly low. Furthermore, a good embryo classification ensued when the sperm was located adjacent to the polar body. Conclusion: The zone in which the sperm was located did not always correlate with embryo quality; however, our study suggested that sperm location affects the synchronization of the nucleolus. When carrying out ICSI, it is important to take into consideration the insertion point of the sperm. (Reprod Med Biol 2007; 6: 171-174).

Results: Two hundred and thirty-four samples of follicular fluid from 74 IVF patients were analyzed. In conventional IVF, there was no relationship in steroid levels in between follicular fluid and serum steroids, whereas serum steroid concentrations correlated with the number of developing follicles. There was a relationship between the serum and follicular fluid estradiol levels (r = 0.467, P < 0.0001) as well as progesterone levels (r = 0.227, P = 0.0488) from friendly IVF patients. Conclusions: Serum steroid concentrations were mainly associated with the number of developing follicles. In the cases of friendly IVF, which had a small number of developing follicles, serum steroids might be used to monitor follicular fluid steroid concentrations. (Reprod Med Biol 2006; 5: 277‐282)

Background Several parameters of early embryo development are known as predictors of implantation success. Recently, zygote or embryo morphological assessments are thought to be a major method of selection in embryo transfer. We expected that the concentrations of the steroids in follicular fluid (FF) were associated with oocyte maturation and embryo quality. In the present paper, we evaluated the relationship of several parameters.