Blood test may predict success of IVF

A SIMPLE blood test may in future help women to predict their chances of getting pregnant with fertility treatment, it was disclosed yesterday.

Scientists have discovered genetic markers in the blood which provide a fertility “fingerprint”.

They showed activity patterns in more than 200 genes which were different in women whose In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) treatment succeeded or failed.

Although the research is at an early stage, experts hope it will lead to an affordable predictive test which might be available within a few years.

Study leader Dr Cathy Allen, from the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin, said: “There does seem to be a particular signature that goes with early human pregnancy. We’re talking about a unique profile that has the potential to be used in future to predict IVF success or failure.

“The work is in its infancy and has to be developed and validated, but we hope it will improve the blunt prognostic procedures we have now.”

The test could help women with a history of IVF failure who faced “very difficult decisions” about whether or not to press on with treatment, said Dr Allen.

The test relies on microchip technology that uses a credit card-sized device to probe the activity levels of more than 30,000 genes.

Gene activity can be measured by reading different patterns in a molecule called messenger RNA that relays genetic code instructions.

Dr Allen’s team extracted circulating RNA from blood samples taken from the arms of women embarking on IVF treatment.

Five samples came from women who went on to achieve IVF pregnancies, three were from women who failed to get pregnant after treatment, and three were from sub-fertile women who conceived spontaneously.

Gene activity, or “expression”, at the preparation stage of treatment showed “interesting patterns of gene clustering” said Dr Allen, speaking at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (Eshre) in Amsterdam.

More than 200 genes were differentially expressed in patients who went on to achieve an IVF pregnancy and those who did not.

The research also showed a more than twofold difference in the activity of 128 genes in women at early stages of pregnancy after IVF treatment and non-pregnant women.