Calcium ionophore supplementation for immature oocytes and pentoxifylline supplementation for immotile sperms: A study of embryo quality of difficult cases in in vitro fertilization in a mouse model

A BSTRACT Difficult in vitro fertilization (IVF) cases involving both immature oocytes and immotile sperm remain a clinical challenge. This study evaluated embryo quality in a mouse model using pentoxifylline (PTX)-treated sperm and calcium ionophore (CaI)-matured oocytes. This was an experimental study using a mouse model. The immotile sperms were supplemented by PTX, while the immature oocytes were incubated with CaI. Then, the conventional IVF was performed to unite both germ cells. The development of the embryos was observed on days 1 and 3, respectively. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Oocyte maturity was compared between the groups using the Chi-square test. Sperm motility and embryo quality were analyzed using the Kruskal–Wallis test, followed by the Mann–Whitney post hoc test for pairwise comparisons. In this study, the maturation process was found more frequently with the addition of CaI (45.3%), and the motility of spermatozoa was also increased with the addition of PTX (31%). The quality of embryos after adding CaI and PTX (1 st day – 58.3% and 3 rd day – 33.3%) was significantly different from that without addition, although it was not different when compared to adding CaI alone or PTX alone. We conclude that in a mouse model, the addition of calcium for immature oocytes and PTX for immotile spermatozoa may assist in difficult cases in IVF practices, even though further research is needed, particularly in a clinical trial in human.