To conceive successfully, two elements must be in place: a suitable uterine environment and a "good" embryo. Embryos are formed by the combination of egg cells and sperm, and interestingly, sperm defects are repaired and rescued by egg cell sources after fertilization, so the quality of egg cells is the main determinant of whether the embryo is good or bad. So, what factors affect egg cell quality?
1. Age
With age, the number of egg cells decreases, the quality decreases, the reactive oxygen species increase abnormally, manifested by abnormal mitochondrial number and function, spindle filament formation errors, chromosomal aneuploidy increase and manifestation genetic changes.
2. Smoking and alcoholism
Tobacco and alcohol are very harmful to the quality of women's eggs. The nicotine component in cigarettes has great restrictions on the health of the ovaries, and women who smoke for a long time are prone to atrophy and aging of the ovaries. And alcoholism will also accelerate the aging of the body, affect the blood circulation function, the female body blood circulation problems, the biggest victim is the ovarian function, ovarian failure, will lead to physiological cycle disorders, naturally affect the quality of eggs, increase the difficulty of conception.
3. Obesity
The study found that obese women were less sensitive to ovulation-stimulating drugs than women with normal BMI, more likely to have low and slow ovarian responses, lower fertilization rates, and lower embryo quality. Whether an obese person is trying to conceive naturally or by means of assisted reproduction, weight loss during pregnancy preparation is a must.
4. Environmental factors
Egg cell quality is also affected by environmental factors, automobile exhaust, industrial emissions, ionizing radiation, etc. can lead to chromosomal aberrations in female oocytes, affecting fertility. Pregnant mothers should try not to contact chemical and chemical products with reproductive toxicity such as pesticides, paints, heavy metals, and hair dyes and perms, and avoid adverse environmental effects to improve egg cell quality.
5. Disease factors
(1) Chronic pelvic inflammatory disease may lead to follicle dysplasia. Studies have shown that the number of high-quality embryos and clinical pregnancy rates of IVF cycles decrease with the aggravation of pelvic inflammation, and it is speculated that chronic pelvic inflammation not only reduces the response of the ovaries, but also may affect the quality of oocytes, embryogenesis and endometrial tolerance of embryos. The possible mechanism is that the chronic pelvic inflammatory environment activates the body's oxidative stress system, and the release of large amounts of oxygen free radicals interferes with the microenvironment of follicle development, disrupting the normal process of oocyte maturation, fertilization and embryo implantation.
(2) Endometriosis leads to follicle dysplasia, the rate of morphological abnormalities in embryonic nuclei and cytoplasm increases, and embryonic developmental retardation and low blastocyst formation rate are prone to occur.
(3) Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) PCOS women with difficulty in pregnancy are characterized by decreased egg cell quality, decreased egg cell maturity after ovulation induction, increased abnormal morphology, decreased fertilization rate, and decreased high-scoring embryo rate. It is also related to the dysfunction of egg cell maturation and decreased fertility caused by systemic metabolic status, insulin resistance, immune abnormalities, and abnormal glycolipid metabolism.
To improve the quality of embryos, female friends should start from improving the quality of eggs, in addition to the irreversible age, a healthy lifestyle and healthy physical condition are conducive to the growth of healthy eggs.