Background: The intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) technique has shown great success in the assisted reproduction field. Amino acids, abundant in female reproductive fluids, are crucial for mammalian embryo culture media.
Objective: This study explores the relationship between the amino acid profile in a 5-day-old embryo culture medium and embryo implantation potential in in vitro fertilization (IVF). It combines two non-invasive methods: amino acid quantification in the culture medium and morphokinetic analysis using the time-lapse technique, to link embryological processes with biochemical dynamics.
Materials and Methods: Ovarian stimulation and oocyte collection, semen preparation and assessment, embryo culturing, scoring, and selection with a time-lapse monitoring system were assessed in the Reproductive Centre of Agial Hospital, Alexandria, Egypt. On day 5, culture media in which the embryos were developed, were collected and analyzed for 20 amino acids using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC–MS). Statistical methods estimated amino acid consumption, release, and their correlations.
Results: The study highlights the importance of specific amino acids, such as valine, threonine, serine, cysteine, and alanine which were prominently produced in the culture media of developing embryos. While other amino acids exhibited decreased levels in both developing and arrested embryos. Notably, histidine, lysine, cystine, aspartate, glutamate, glutamine, and glycine, were significantly absorbed from the media.
Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the combined use of amino acid profiling and morphokinetic analysis can help select the most competent embryo, potentially increasing IVF success rates, reducing the incidence of multiple births, and predicting implantation potential in morphologically excellent embryos.