The Clinical,Embryological,and Ultrastructural Characteristics Of Patients With Gelatinous Zona Pellucida

Objectives: To investigate Embryological,clinical and ultrastructural characteristics of patients with gelatinous zona pellucida,Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study to analyze clinical and embryological characteristics of 55 patients with gelatinous zona pellucida,who underwent IVF/ICSI,comparing with normal controls.The ultrastructure of the zona pellucida was observed by using electronic microscopy and immunofluorescence was performed to detect ZP2 and ZP3 expression and location of zona pellucida.Results:1.Patients with gelatinous zona pellucida suffered longer infertility duration than controls.Most of them were diagnosed as primary infertility.Fewer oocytes retrieved per cycle as well as lower MⅡ rate were observed among those patients.Compared with control patients,they had significant lower 2PN rate in IVF group,but not in ICSI group.After eliminating male factors,the implantation rate,clinical pregnancy rate,live birth rates were significantly lower.2.The electronic microscopy showed that the three dimensional structure of the gelatinous zona pellucida was different from the normal ones,which expressed as an irregualr organized loose network without distinct layers and narrow PVS3.The immunofluorescence showed no difference in ZP1-ZP4 expression in both group.Conclusions: Obvious structure abnormality of gelatinous zona pellucida was observed in our study and it affects the clinical outcomes of our patients,which suggests that it may not only disrupt fertilization but also affect the oocyte maturity.and embryo growth potential.However,the mechanism still need further study.