The Role of Preconception Parental Health on Embryo Quality—Preliminary Results of a Prospective Study Using Non-Invasive Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidy

In this study, we aimed to correlate embryonic ploidy status studied with non-invasive preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidy with the basic patient characteristics of the infertile couple to gain insight into the effects of parental physical health on embryo ploidy. We recruited 131 couples, who were stratified into 4 groups based on female age. We gathered general patient characteristics of the couple and determined the female's hormonal status. We included 316 embryos in our study. Embryos were either transferred in the uterus in a fresh cycle or vitrified for later use. We collected spent embryo culture medium on either day 5 or 6 and performed whole genome amplification before using Next Generation Sequencing. Pregnancy outcomes were noted and cross-referenced with patient characteristics and the embryo's ploidy status in a retrospective manner. While we have indirectly observed a level of maternal contamination, we nevertheless found a significant correlation between embryo ploidy status and cell free deoxyribonucleic acid concentration in spent embryo culture, as well a correlation between female age and embryo ploidy status. We observed a significant correlation between male body mass index and cell free deoxyribonucleic acid concentration in spent embryo culture medium and between male body mass index and pregnancy outcome. We illustrated a connection between male body mass index and cell free deoxyribonucleic acid, independent of female markers. This is the first study to observe not only female but male parameters in correlation to cell free deoxyribonucleic acid.