Cathy Allen, MD

25th annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and  Embryology


 NB: this is the subject of a news briefing by Dr. Cathy Allen at 09.30 hrs (CEST)  on Wednesday 1 July [Rooms R & S, First Floor]

Amsterdam, The Netherlands: For the first time, researchers have been able to  identify genetic predictors of the potential success or failure of IVF

 treatment  in blood. Dr. Cathy Allen, from the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, Ireland, told the  25th annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and  Embryology today (Wednesday 1 July) that her research would help understand why  IVF works for some patients but not for others.
 
 Previous work in this area has looked at gene profiles in such tissues as the  uterine lining, but Dr. Allen and her team chose to examine the gene expression  patterns in RNA extracted from peripheral (circulating) blood, an easily  accessible biological sample. Blood samples were taken at eight different stages  during the period around conception and the early stages of the IVF cycle. Five  of these samples came from women who achieved clinical pregnancies, three from  those who had implantation failure, and three from subfertile women who  conceived spontaneously. Analysis showed that 128 genes showed a more than  two-fold difference in expression in early clinical pregnancy compared with a  non-pregnant state.
 
 The molecular pathways that were most over-represented in this expression were  concerned with angiogenesis (the growth of new blood vessels

), endothelin  signalling (blood vessel constriction), inflammation, oxidative stress (damage  to cell structures), vascular endothelial growth factor (signalling processes in  blood vessel growth), and pyruvate metabolism (the supply of energy to cells).  “All these processes are important in the achievement and maintenance of  pregnancy,” said Dr. Allen. 
 
 “We found that the gene expression profiles in blood of patients at the time of  pituitary down-regulation showed interesting patterns of gene clustering. Over  200 genes were differentially expressed in patients who went on to achieve an  IVF pregnancy

 compared with those who did not,” she said. 
 
 The researchers found that the peripheral blood gene expression ‘signature’  (also known as the transcriptome) before IVF was predictive of IVF outcome. This  finding demonstrates the power of high-dimensional technology in biomarker  discovery, and highlights the potential for developing clinically useful tools,  they say. 
 
 One of the most difficult decisions for patients who have had unsuccessful IVF  treatments is whether they should undergo further attempts at IVF, or if there  are ways to optimise chances of success. The researchers hope that the results  generated by this work will lead to the development of a test to aid in IVF  decision-making. They say that their work will help to identity biomarkers that  can identify events occurring at implantation, the maintenance of pregnancy and  successful or unsuccessful pregnancy outcome. 
 
 “IVF technology has advanced tremendously over the past three decades, yet  success after IVF remains an unpredictable outcome,” said Dr. Allen. “Our work  will help understand whether the implantation of embryos is influenced by the  constantly changing expression of human genes.”
 
 Previous studies in the field of gene-expression have focused on single genes as  opposed to genome-wide screening of all the human genes with high density DNA  microarrays, as used by Dr. Allen and her team. The advent of tools like  microarrays that can simultaneously probe for up to 29,000 genes has radically  changed scientific approaches to this type of research. “It’s like looking at  how a team of players perform together rather than focusing on the individual  players,” said Dr. Allen.
 
 “We intend to look further at the most significant genes we have identified as  being important in this field in order to be able to understand their exact  biological role in reproductive function. We hope that our work will lead to the  development of a clinically useful tool to help doctors counsel their patients  in the difficult decision-making involved in IVF,” she said.

Abstract no: O-269 Wednesday 14.15 hrs CEST (Elicium 1)

Press Office: (Sunday 28 June â Wednesday 1 July)

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Articles

For the first time, researchers have been able to identify genetic predictors of the potential success or failure of IVF treatment in blood. Dr. Cathy Allen, from the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, Ireland, told the 25th annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology today (Wednesday 1 July) that her research would help understand why IVF works for some patients but not for others.

Cathy Allen, MD

Articles

Will IVF work for a Particular Patient? The Answer may be found in her blood