Cited by 23Reproductive Biology and FertilityReproductive biology and impacts on aquatic speciesReproductive Health and Technologies

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 46 of the 46 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Gene expression profiling of human blastocysts from in vivo and ‘rescue IVM’ with or without melatonin treatment

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Abstract

To evaluate the effect of melatonin supplementation in maturation medium for human 'rescue IVM' and investigate differences in transcriptomic profile of blastocysts developed from oocytes matured in vitro with/without melatonin treatment and in vivo, a total of 314 GV oocytes and 320 MI oocytes were collected from 200 patients younger than 35 years old undergoing ICSI cycle. The oocytes were randomly distributed in the control group (no melatonin) and four other groups of varying melatonin concentrations (10‑11, 10‑9, 10‑7, 10‑5 mol/l). Gene profiling was performed on blastocysts developed from in vivo maturation oocytes (in vivo group), and in vitro maturation (IVM) oocytes with an optimal concentration of melatonin treatment (IVM‑anti group) or without melatonin (IVM group). The ratio of high quality blastocysts was significantly higher in the groups treated with 10‑5 mol/l melatonin compared with others groups. The large‑scale analysis of the transcriptome revealed significant differences in mRNA expression levels. In each group, nine blastocysts were selected for gene expression profiling. The differentially expressed genes were involved in cysteine and methionine metabolism, regulation of apoptotic process, mineral absorption, steroid hormone biosynthesis, Wnt signaling, p53 signaling pathway and other functions. The findings indicated that the IVM procedure may potentially affect DNA methylation and the canonical Wnt signaling pathway. Exogenous melatonin positively influenced quality of blastocysts, which may be mediated via upregulation of p53 signaling and correcting DNA methylation changes caused by 'rescue IVM'. However, this study reflected what was generally referred to as 'rescue IVM' and was not a true reflection of clinical IVM techniques. Therefore, melatonin required further investigation as a promising supplement for use in IVM.

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Crossref · 10.3892/mmr.2017.6742

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  • A meta-analysis of three studies (two RCTs and one cell culture) found a significant impact of melatonin treatment on clinical pregnancy rates.

    “A meta-analysis of all three studies, which included both in vivo and ex vivo melatonin administration, demonstrated a significant impact of melatonin treatment on clinical pregnancy rates (in vivo studies utilized 3 mg of melatonin from the onset of the first cycle or day 3 until the triggering day; the ex vivo study employed 10 µmol/L of melatonin in the culture medium for 24–48 h) [183].”

    From Nutritional and herbal interventions for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): a comprehensive review of dietary approaches, macronutrient impact, and herbal medicine in management (2025) · cites this paper as [183]

    The Materials and methods section describes an ex vivo study using melatonin in oocyte maturation medium at 10 µmol/L for approximately 24 hours. The Results report a higher proportion of high-quality blastocysts at that concentration, but the paper does not report a three-study meta-analysis or a significant effect on clinical pregnancy rates. It also does not support the stated oral dosing regimen or 48-hour culture duration. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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  • The significant effect of melatonin on clinical pregnancy rates was not observed in the meta-analysis of the two RCTs conducted exclusively in vivo.

    “However, this significance was not observed in the meta-analysis of the two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) conducted exclusively in vivo.”

    From Nutritional and herbal interventions for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): a comprehensive review of dietary approaches, macronutrient impact, and herbal medicine in management (2025) · cites this paper as [183]

    The Results (page unavailable) report nonsignificant differences in fertilization, cleavage and blastocyst rates in this rescue-IVM study, not clinical pregnancy rates. Searches for a meta-analysis of two exclusively in-vivo RCTs and for clinical pregnancy rates found no passage addressing that claim. (LLM, conf=0.78)

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  1. R Development Core Team R, 2008, A language and Environment for Statistical Computing

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Authors
Hao, Y., Zhang, Z., Han, D., Cao, Y., Zhou, P., Wei, Z., Lv, M., & Chen, D.
Affiliations
First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University (CN)
Corresponding author
  • Zhang, Zhiguo
  • Cao, Yunxia
Venue
Molecular Medicine Reports
Published
2017-02
Volume
16
Issue
2
Pages
1278-1288
ISSN
  • 1791-2997 (ISSN-L)
  • 1791-3004
OpenAlex
W2624100714
Cited by
23
References
46
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1
FWCI
1.80
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc-nd
Locations
  • Molecular Medicine Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Anhui Medical University
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Reproductive Biology and Fertility
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Physiology › Reproductive biology and impacts on aquatic species
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Reproductive Health and Technologies
Keywords
melatonin, in vitro maturation, human blastocyst, blastocyst quality, transcriptome, differentially expressed genes, DNA methylation, Wnt signaling, p53 pathway, cysteine and methionine metabolism, apoptosis, steroidogenesis
MeSH terms
Adult, Blastocyst, Female, Fertilization in Vitro, Gene Expression Regulation, Gonadotropins, Humans, Melatonin, Oocytes, Computational Biology, Gene Expression Profiling, Embryonic Development, Transcriptome, Gene Ontology

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