Morphological and molecular cytogenetic characteristics of giant human oocytes

Petrushko M.P., Buderatska N.O., Gontar J.V., Yurchuk T.O.

SUMMARY. The issue of the feasibility of using oocytes with mor-phological dysmorphism in assisted reproduction technology programs is debatable. The aim of the study was to evaluate the morphological and molecular cytogenetic characteristics of enlarged oocytes, and to predict their use for further fertilization. Among 774 oocytes, retrieved from 80 patients, 83 (11 %) cells were enlarged. According to the morphometric analysis, the diameter of the ooplasm was (176,67 ± 1,76) µm, the diameter with ZP was (200,8 ± 4,24) µm. 47 (56,6 %) giant oocytes were at the metaphase II stage, 26 (31,3 %) oocytes were at the metaphase I stage and 10 (12,1 %) cells were at the stage of prophase I. The retrieved giant oocytes were characterized by dysmorphism of endo- and exocytoplasmic structures. 47 cells were at the metaphase II stage, among them 40 (85,1 %) oocytes had two polar bodies, 3 (6,4 %) oocytes had one polar body, and 4 (8,5 %) had a fragmented polar body. The assessment of the presence of meiotic spindle by the polarization microscopy has shown that 39 (83 %) oocytes had 2 meiotic spindles, 3 (6,4 %) had 1 meiotic spindle, and 5 oocytes (10,6 %) had no visualized meiotic spindles despite the presence of polar bodies. After fertilization of 47 oocytes at the stage of metaphase II, pronuclei were detected in 42 (89,4 %) cells, among them 9
(21,4 %) oocytes had 2 pronuclei, 27 (63,3 %) cells had 3 pronuclei, and 6 (15,3 %) cells had 4 pronuclei. The molecular cytogenetic analysis demonstrated that the embryos, obtained after giant oocytes fertilization, had a polyploid chromosome set number. Thus, the results of our study have shown the inexpediency of using giant oocytes for their further fertilization.

Key words: oocytes, giant oocytes, morphological characteristics, molecular cytogenetic analysis

Tsitologiya i Genetika 2021, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 32-39

1. Institute of Problems of Cryobiology and Cryomedicine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kharkiv
2. «IGR Medical Center», Kyiv, «ART – clinic of reproductive medicine», Kharkiv

E-mail: Nataly_igr ukr.net, petrushkomarina gmail.com, genetics­j yandex.ru, taisiya.yur gmail.com

Petrushko M.P., Buderatska N.O., Gontar J.V., Yurchuk T.O. Morphological and molecular cytogenetic characteristics of giant human oocytes, Tsitol Genet., 2021, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 32-39.

In "Cytology and Genetics":
M. P. Petrushko, N. O. Buderatska, J. V. Gontar & T. O. Yurchuk Morphological and Molecular Cytogenetic Characteristics of Giant Human Oocytes, Cytol Genet., 2021, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 132–137
DOI: 10.3103/S0095452721020110

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