Team Miracle at Cyprus IVF Centre strive to stay updated with the latest advances in the field of fertility medicine. Our primary aim is to achieve a healthy live birth for all our patients regardless of their fertility history. We strongly believe that all women can become pregnant, even if they have had repeated failures prior to coming to Cyprus IVF Centre.
And so, with our primary goal in mind, we are excited to introduce EmbryoGen® and BlastGen™ to our ever-growing list of available services.
What is EmbryoGen ®?
EmbryoGen ® is the world’s first special advanced cleavage-stage medium containing GM-CSF (Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor) growth factor which is used for the culture of embryos until the 2 – 8 cell stage of development. It can also be used as an embryo transfer medium for transfers occurring on day 2 or 3 at Cyprus IVF Centre.
What is BlastGen ™?
BlastGen™ is the only advanced IVF medium in the world which is available for blastocyst culture that contains recombinant human GM-CSF cytokine.
How can it help ?
EmbryoGen® & BlastGen™ work to reduce the embryo stress in the Cyprus IVF Centre laboratory by providing a more physiological and natural in vitro environment.
They improve the communication between the mother and embryo and offer a low cost, non-invasive alternative rather than undertaking harsher, more expensive treatments for failed cycles or miscarriages.
Which Team Miracle patients are eligible to use EmbryoGen® & BlastGen with their IVF in Cyprus ?
These products are suitable for all patients and can be applied to all treatments. However, the doctor at Cyprus IVF Centre specifically recommends usage for patients with:
– recurrent clinical & biochemical pregnancy loss
o Studies have shown significantly reduced GM-CSF levels in women with unexplained recurrent miscarriage.
– recurrent implantation failure
o Studies have shown that GM-CSF significantly improves clinical pregnancy rates in RIF patients.
– unexplained infertility
o Studies have found reduced GM-CSF levels in follicular fluid of women with unexplained infertility.
EmbryoGen® can be used for older women or women who have poor quality eggs but wish to continue IVF treatment abroad without resorting to donor eggs. For these women, we are more likely to do a 3 day embryo transfer.
BlastGen™ can be used for couples where there is male factor infertility or perhaps a history of failed implantation or miscarriages but there is no problem with the embryos developing to blastocyst stage. It can also be used for couples wishing to have pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) treatment for gender selection to improve the embryo quality prior to and after the embryo biopsy.
The Process
At Cyprus IVF Centre, the Team Miracle embryologist will perform ICSI for all treatments. Immediately after the initial ICSI fertilisation is completed, the oocytes are transferred from the holding medium into wells of pre-equilibrated EmbryoGen® or BlastGen™ and the petri dish is returned to either our special benchtop incubators or the state-of-the-art EmbryoScope® incubator if you also opt to have EmbryoScope in Cyprus IVF Centre. See our EmbryoScope® page or website for further information.
During an IVF treatment, the embryo spends between 2 and 5 days outside the mother’s body. This is an extremely sensitive period of time during which the embryo relies heavily on its environment.
The most important job for the embryologist is to specialise in providing the best possible conditions for the developing embryos and the main influencing factor is the fluid or culture medium in which the embryo is kept. This must substitute the embryo’s natural environment and provide the necessary nutrients for the embryo to thrive.
As our understanding of the woman’s complex reproductive system improves, these culture media are becoming more and more advanced, to better imitate the mother.
The better the media, the more likely an embryo is to implant and lead to a successful live birth.
How do EmbryoGen® and BlastGen™ work? – The Technical Part
Up to 40% of unexplained infertility and 80% of unexplained pregnancy losses may be the result of communication errors between embryo and mother.
The fertilised embryo is a tiny foreign organism inside the mother’s body. From fertilisation onwards, the mother communicates actively with the embryo and prepares to recognise it and accept it. It is because of this dialogue that the embryo is allowed to implant in her uterus and remain there throughout pregnancy.
Without proper dialogue, a successful pregnancy is not possible.
Cytokines promote the channel of communication between the embryo and its mother before the implantation occurs. One of the primary keys to pregnancy success is the upregulation of cytokines. Decreased cytokine levels increase the risk of implantation failure and miscarriage.
If the mother, for some reason, fails to produce enough of these special communication substances, her body may reject the embryo before it has a chance to implant, or soon after implantation. These women are therefore likely to experience repeated failed IVF attempts and/or early miscarriages. Steroid based immune medication alone will not be enough to guarantee a pregnancy because the immune medication, e.g. prednisolone, cannot help with the dialogue between mother and embryo.
If there is a cytokine deficiency, GM-CSF helps restore the communication and therefore increases the chance of successful implantation and healthy pregnancy.
GM-CSF is a cytokine which usually occurs naturally within a woman’s reproductive system.
Throughout the conception process, GM-CSF should be increased naturally:
- After intercourse – A surge of GM-CSF is expressed into the lumen
- After conception – Uterine GM-CSF expression remains high for some days
- After implantation – Additional GM-CSF is produced by early placental cells
GM-CSF interaction is a natural part and powerful regulator of the embryo, placenta and endometrium.
This creates a problem when women don’t produce enough GM-CSF by themselves. If a woman comes to Team Miracle at Cyprus IVF Centre with a history of failed cycles despite trying all other options such as hysteroscopy, immune treatment etc., then we should consider the use of EmbryoGen® or BlastGen™ to assist with the IVF process.
You can see, in the table below, the difference between women with a normal GM-CSF profile and women who have had previous miscarriages or failed cycles.
There is a strong correlation between miscarriage and low cytokine levels. We can counteract the problem by using EmbryoGen or BlastGen when you have IVF with Team Miracle at Cyprus IVF Centre.
Numerous studies have shown that EmbryoGen has a very positive effect for couples who have had fertility problems in the past.
Why choose Team Miracle at Cyprus IVF Centre?
Most IVF clinics worldwide use conventional IVF media which is devoid of natural cytokines found in the oviduct, which regulate early developmental programming in the embryo and placenta, as well as uterine receptivity.
Team Miracle at Cyprus IVF Centre are the only fertility team in Cyprus to offer EmbryoGen® and BlastGen™ which contain the natural cytokine GM-CSF, documented to provide additional support to some of the most challenging IVF patients.
In one of the world’s largest ever IVF trials, EmbryoGen® was tested in more than 1300 IVF patients in 14 clinics. Results showed a 28% increase in live birth rate in women with a history of miscarriage.
The doctor is renowned for providing a first class service to her patients and for treating people who have been previously deemed as “untreatable” by other IVF clinics. By utilising new products and advanced equipment as soon as they become available, Cyprus IVF Centre is able to maintain its position as one of the leading IVF centres in the world.
Please contact Team Miracle at Cyprus IVF Centre to discuss using EmbryoGen or BlastGen with your IVF treatment in Cyprus.