CClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT02586298Updated Aug 23, 2017

Autologous Mitochondrial Transfer in ICSI to Improve Oocyte and Embryo Quality in IVF Patients. Pilot Study

An interventional study of Autologous mitochondria with ICSI and STANDARD ICSI PROCEDURE in Infertility, sponsored by Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad, IVI VALENCIA. Completed at 1 site in Spain. Open to female participants aged 18 Years to 42 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2017-08-23.

Sponsored by Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad, IVI VALENCIA · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
59
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 42 Years
Sex
Female
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Study summary

The principle objective is to improve embryo quality through autologous micro-injection of mitochondria isolated from Ovarian stem cells into the oocytes themselves, as a complementary ICSI technique in patients with low embryo quality in previous IVF cycles and in those who did not bear children.

This improvement in embryo quality will be determined through on-going pregnancy rate after treatment and/or improvement in embryo quality according to morphological (ASEBIR-"Association for the study of Biology in Reproductive Science), morphokinetic criteria and in Preimplantation Genetic Screening.

Using an adaptive design, retrieved oocytes of approximately 60 patients will be randomized in the first part of the study to two treatment groups; standard ICSI procedure without mitochondrial supplementation and ICSI with autologous mitochondrial supplementation. Following an interim analysis of outcomes, an additional 130 patients may be added, for a total of 190 patients.

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Conditions studied

  • Infertility

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03

In context

Infertility

2,506 studies on the registry are indexed under Infertility; 407 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 59 is below the median of 120 across 1,698 interventional studies indexed under Infertility.

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Lead sponsor

Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad, IVI VALENCIA is the lead sponsor of 70 studies on the registry; 8 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 42 Years
Sexes eligible
Female
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • The patients must have read, understood and signed the ICF.
  • Age ≤ 42 years.
  • Serum AMH ≥ 4 pM/L.
  • Previous IVF cycle with 5 or more metaphase II oocytes after retrieval
  • BMI \< 30.
  • Will undergo an IVF cycle with arrays in Preimplantation Genetic Screening.
  • Semen sample with concentrations exceeding 3 million/mL progressive motile sperm.

Present with a history of at least one previous cycle of IVF with embryo transfer and no pregnancy due to low embryo quality. Low embryo quality is understood as > 70% of the embryos obtained being included in the worst prognosis category according to any of the following criteria:

  1. Low or abnormal Fertilization Rate despite semen count > 3 million/mL.
  2. Deficient quality embryos according to morphological criteria established by ASEBIR:

    i. Embryo D2 and D3: classified as Type C or Type D according to ASEBIR criteria.

    ii. Embryo D5 or blastocyst: Inner cell mass absent, with few cells and difficult differentiation, Trophectoderm with very few cells. Type C or D of ASEBIR.

  3. Embryos of deficient quality according to morphokinetic criteria established (28) for EmbryoScope Time-Lapse if this incubator has been used.

    i.Category 4: Embryos of 1 or 2 pronuclei (PN) formed from 1 to 2 cells at 27h, from 2 to 6 cells on D2 and 4 or >8 cells or morula on D3. The embryo can present with asymmetrical and multinucleated blastomeres. Degree of fragmentation \< 50%.

    ii. Category 5: Embryo with any number of cells at 27h, on D2 and D3. Asymmetrical, multinucleated blastomeres and any degree of fragmentation. Atretic embryos and those with arrested embryo development belong to this category.

  4. All cases without embryo transfer due to any chromosomal abnormality detected through PGD or PGS techniques.
  5. All cases without transfer due to the presence of embryos that present a blockage of embryo development before D3.

If the morphological quality criteria established under points 2, 3 and 4 give contradictory results, the result obtained through PGD/PGS (point 4) will prevail over the morphokinetic parameters (point 3) and this, in turn, will prevail over the classic morphological criteria (point 2).

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Formal contraindication for ovarian cortex biopsy or follicle puncture.
  • Severe male factor (concentration\<3 million/mL of progressive motile sperm).
  • Any characteristic incompatible with carrying out a new IVF cycle at IVI Valencia.
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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Double (Participant, Care provider)
Enrollment
59 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    ICSI with mitochondria

    Half of the Metaphase II oocytes retrieved after the controlled ovarian stimulation will be randomized to this group and autologous mitochondria from the patient's ovarian cortex will be introduced into the oocyte during the intracytoplasmic sperm injection in the vitro fertilization treatment.

    Other: Autologous mitochondria with ICSI

  • Active comparator
    Control ICSI without mitochondria

    The other half of the metaphase II oocytes retrieved after the controlled ovarian stimulation will be randomized to this group and will not receive autologous mitochondria during the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in the vitro fertilization treatment. Control Group

    Other: STANDARD ICSI PROCEDURE

Interventions

  • OtherAutologous mitochondria with ICSI

    Autologous mitochondria during the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) process will be added to this randomized group of oocytes.

  • OtherSTANDARD ICSI PROCEDURE

    STANDARD ICSI PROCEDURE

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Rate of ongoing pregnancy

    Time frame: 12 weeks

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Study locations

1 site
  • IVI Valencia
    Valencia, 46015, Spain
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References and documents

Publications

  • Labarta E, de Los Santos MJ, Herraiz S, Escriba MJ, Marzal A, Buigues A, Pellicer A. Autologous mitochondrial transfer as a complementary technique to intracytoplasmic sperm injection to improve embryo quality in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization-a randomized pilot study. Fertil Steril. 2019 Jan;111(1):86-96. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2018.09.023. Epub 2018 Nov 24. PubMed 30477915 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Aug 23, 2017, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02586298
Lead sponsor
Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad, IVI VALENCIA
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Oct 26, 2015
Start date
Oct 2015
Primary completion
Mar 2017
Completion
Jul 2017
Last update
Aug 23, 2017

Study contacts

Elena Labarta, MD PhD
study director · Gynecologist Specialist TRA, IVI Valencia
Antonio Pellicer, MD PhD
principal investigator · Gynecologist specialist TRA, President IVI Valencia

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Aug 2017. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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