Evaluation of Telomere Length and Telomerase Activity on Predicting in Vitro Fertilization Treatment Outcomes

Overview

Journal J Assist Reprod Genet

Publisher Springer

Specialties Genetics
Reproductive Medicine

Date 2024 May 2

PMID 38695985

Authors

Persefoni Fragkiadaki

Elisavet Kouvidi

Anna Angelaki

Dimitra Nikolopoulou

Elena Vakonaki

Aristidis Tsatsakis

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The current article is a literature review aiming to provide an overview of the existing knowledge on the association between telomere length and telomerase activity and in vitro fertilization. Recently, telomeres have been used as an effective biomarker to determine biological age, which may differ from chronological age due to genetic, lifestyle, and environmental factors. Cellular senescence, along with other exogenous and mainly environmental factors, can enhance telomere wear, further shortening their ends and may also affect reproductive aging. IVF is a common fertility treatment caused by female reasons (age, ovulation disorders, damaged or blocked fallopian tubes, endometriosis), male reasons (low sperm quantity or quality), or unexplained infertility. A growing number of studies have proposed a relationship between telomere length and telomerase activity and IVF success and have suggested their use as candidate biomarkers for IVF outcome. Nevertheless, additional studies are necessary to be conducted, in order to clarify the possible implication of telomeres in IVF and to evaluate their possible role as valuable predictors of IVF result.

Citing Articles

Telomeres and SIRT1 as Biomarkers of Gamete Oxidative Stress, Fertility, and Potential IVF Outcome.

Panczyszyn A, Boniewska-Bernacka E, Wertel I, Sadakierska-Chudy A, Goc A Int J Mol Sci. 2024; 25(16).

PMID: 39201341 PMC: 11354255. DOI: 10.3390/ijms25168652.

References

Liu X, Shi S, Sun J, He Y, Zhang Z, Xing J . The influence of male and female overweight/obesity on IVF outcomes: a cohort study based on registration in Western China. Reprod Health. 2023; 20(1):3. PMC: 9806889. DOI: 10.1186/s12978-022-01558-9. View

Xu X, Chen X, Zhang X, Liu Y, Wang Z, Wang P . Impaired telomere length and telomerase activity in peripheral blood leukocytes and granulosa cells in patients with biochemical primary ovarian insufficiency. Hum Reprod. 2016; 32(1):201-207. DOI: 10.1093/humrep/dew283. View

Turner S, Hartshorne G . Telomere lengths in human pronuclei, oocytes and spermatozoa. Mol Hum Reprod. 2013; 19(8):510-8. DOI: 10.1093/molehr/gat021. View

Yuan Y, Tan Y, Qiu X, Luo H, Li Y, Li R . Sperm telomere length as a novel biomarker of male infertility and embryonic development: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023; 13:1079966. PMC: 9875015. DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2022.1079966. View

Eisenberg D, Hayes M, Kuzawa C . Delayed paternal age of reproduction in humans is associated with longer telomeres across two generations of descendants. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012; 109(26):10251-6. PMC: 3387085. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1202092109. View

Kosebent E, Uysal F, Ozturk S . Telomere length and telomerase activity during folliculogenesis in mammals. J Reprod Dev. 2018; 64(6):477-484. PMC: 6305847. DOI: 10.1262/jrd.2018-076. View

Liu L, Keefe D . Nuclear origin of aging-associated meiotic defects in senescence-accelerated mice. Biol Reprod. 2004; 71(5):1724-9. DOI: 10.1095/biolreprod.104.028985. View

Wright D, Jones E, Mayer J, Oehninger S, Gibbons W, Lanzendorf S . Characterization of telomerase activity in the human oocyte and preimplantation embryo. Mol Hum Reprod. 2001; 7(10):947-55. DOI: 10.1093/molehr/7.10.947. View

Kimura M, Cherkas L, Kato B, Demissie S, Hjelmborg J, Brimacombe M . Offspring's leukocyte telomere length, paternal age, and telomere elongation in sperm. PLoS Genet. 2008; 4(2):e37. PMC: 2242810. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.0040037. View

10.

Vasilopoulos E, Fragkiadaki P, Kalliora C, Fragou D, Docea A, Vakonaki E . The association of female and male infertility with telomere length (Review). Int J Mol Med. 2019; 44(2):375-389. PMC: 6605974. DOI: 10.3892/ijmm.2019.4225. View

11.

Wang W, Chen H, Li R, Ouyang N, Chen J, Huang L . Telomerase activity is more significant for predicting the outcome of IVF treatment than telomere length in granulosa cells. Reproduction. 2014; 147(5):649-57. DOI: 10.1530/REP-13-0223. View

12.

Chen H, Wang W, Mo Y, Ma Y, Ouyang N, Li R . Women with high telomerase activity in luteinised granulosa cells have a higher pregnancy rate during in vitro fertilisation treatment. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2011; 28(9):797-807. PMC: 3169683. DOI: 10.1007/s10815-011-9600-2. View

13.

Liu L, Bailey S, Okuka M, Munoz P, Li C, Zhou L . Telomere lengthening early in development. Nat Cell Biol. 2007; 9(12):1436-41. DOI: 10.1038/ncb1664. View

14.

Lopes A, Oliveira P, Sousa M . Shedding light into the relevance of telomeres in human reproduction and male factor infertility†. Biol Reprod. 2018; 100(2):318-330. DOI: 10.1093/biolre/ioy215. View

15.

Simon L, Brunborg G, Stevenson M, Lutton D, McManus J, Lewis S . Clinical significance of sperm DNA damage in assisted reproduction outcome. Hum Reprod. 2010; 25(7):1594-608. DOI: 10.1093/humrep/deq103. View

16.

Yang Q, Zhao F, Dai S, Zhang N, Zhao W, Bai R . Sperm telomere length is positively associated with the quality of early embryonic development. Hum Reprod. 2015; 30(8):1876-81. DOI: 10.1093/humrep/dev144. View

17.

Sharma R, Agarwal A, Rohra V, Assidi M, Abu-Elmagd M, Turki R . Effects of increased paternal age on sperm quality, reproductive outcome and associated epigenetic risks to offspring. Reprod Biol Endocrinol. 2015; 13:35. PMC: 4455614. DOI: 10.1186/s12958-015-0028-x. View

18.

Yu T, Cheng E, Tsai H, Lin P, Chen C, Huang C . Assessment of Telomere Length and Mitochondrial DNA Copy Number in Granulosa Cells as Predictors of Aneuploidy Rate in Young Patients. J Clin Med. 2022; 11(7). PMC: 9000104. DOI: 10.3390/jcm11071824. View

19.

Rocca M, Foresta C, Ferlin A . Telomere length: lights and shadows on their role in human reproduction. Biol Reprod. 2018; 100(2):305-317. DOI: 10.1093/biolre/ioy208. View

20.

Anifandis G, Samara M, Simopoulou M, Messini C, Chatzimeletiou K, Thodou E . Insights into the Role of Telomeres in Human Embryological Parameters. Opinions Regarding IVF. J Dev Biol. 2021; 9(4). PMC: 8628962. DOI: 10.3390/jdb9040049. View