Group activities

In vitro fertilization has become a routine procedure in medicine and gynecology in recent decades. The first test tube baby was born in 1978, so assisted reproductive techniques (ART) opened up new horizons for childless couples who had not previously had access to treatment. More than 5 million children are born worldwide as a result of ART, and an estimated 1.5 million in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles are carried out worldwide each year, resulting in 350,000 children. In Hungary, 1.5-2% of newborns conceive after in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment, and some form of infertility affects one-fifth of couples planning to have a child. The endocrinology of reproduction has undergone great development in recent decades, as a result of which not only has our theoretical knowledge expanded, but also revolutionary new possibilities have opened up for everyday clinical practice. With the present methods, infertility treatment has reached its limits, and the only step forward is to be able to learn as many influencing factors as possible that characterize a healthy embryo and can predict a successful pregnancy. The success rate of the treatment currently corresponds to the spontaneous pregnancy rate, due to the vulnerability and sensitivity of the human embryo.
The task of our research group was multi-layered, on one hand, to establish embryonic medium studies by identifying potential biomarkers and endogenous factors characteristic of oocytes, embryos and the efficiency of the reproductive process. We investigated the background of the most serious potential side effect of IVF in the background of Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome. We have made effective efforts to protect gametes and embryos by reducing the harmful effects of environmental exposure, especially light. With the Molecular Genetics Working Group, we participated in the development of a non-invasive selection model for screening embryos for aneuploidy, while continuously providing the clinical background and sample collection for the work of other research groups.
The possibility of pre- implantation examinations may open up, which is already supported by the examinations of foreign working groups and thus lay the foundations for a non- invasive pre-implantation genetic test (ni-PGT).
Our embryo protection related goal is the examination and reduction of the harmful effects of illumination and minimizing embryo loss during our in vitro fertilization activities. To this end, we also covered the devices used during artificial insemination, the laboratory light sources and the built-in light sources of the devices used with light filter foil. After the conditions thus protected, we compared our one-year experience with the same parameters of the previous year using statistical methods. We examined the extent of fertilization rate, blasting rate, and implantation rate in the light-protected and non-protected groups using conventional IVF and ICSI. In all of these parameters, better results were obtained in the light-protected group, of which a significant increase of about 60% should be highlighted is blastocyst loss decrease, that is with that much more embryos reached this degree of differentiation.
Thus, our efforts are aimed at improving the quality of existing processes on the one hand, and on the improvement of assisted reproduction processes on the other hand with the help of biomarker studies.