JBRA Assisted Reproduction 2025;29(Suppl.2 SBRA 2025):172
Poster Presentation
29^th Annual Congress of the SBRA. São Paulo/SP - Brazil, 2025
doi: 10.5935/1518-0557.20263916

P-160. Microfluidics in IVF cycles with High Sperm DNA Fragmentation: Effectiveness Assessment

Karen Melissa Gonçalves Oliveira¹, Aline de Cássia Azevedo¹, Manuela Baldave Carli Dias¹, Lilian Pagano Mori¹, Vitor Armenio Scontre¹, Juliana Assi¹, Leonardo Seligra Lopes¹, Jeniffer Monteiro Portes de Lima¹

¹ InVentre Centro Avançado de Medicina Reprodutiva - Santo André - São Paulo - Brasil

Objective: To evaluate whether high sperm DNA fragmentation (DFI – DNA Fragmentation Index) influences laboratory and clinical outcomes of in vitro fertilization (IVF), even after sperm processing using microfluidic selection, by comparing results between patients with low and high fragmentation levels.
Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study conducted at a reproductive medicine center. IVF cycles were divided into two groups based on the sperm DNA fragmentation index obtained from a validated diagnostic test: Group 1 included patients with DFI<20%, and Group 2 with DFI > 20%. In all cases, sperm preparation was performed exclusively using microfluidic devices to standardize the technique and isolate its potential effect. The main laboratory outcomes assessed were fertilization rate (presence of two pronuclei on Day 1), embryonic cleavage rate (Day 3), blastocyst formation (Days 5/6), and embryo quality. Clinical outcomes included implantation rate (confirmed by the presence of a gestational sac), clinical pregnancy rate (presence of fetal heartbeat), and live birth rate. Statistical analyses were performed according to variable type: the student's t-test was used for continuous variables, and Fisher's exact test for categorical variables, with statistical significance set at p<0.05. Graphs and descriptive analyses were generated using GraphPad Prism version 10.
Results: A total of 30 IVF cycles were analyzed, comprising 252 normally fertilized embryos (2PN on Day 1). No statistically significant differences were observed between groups in terms of fertilization rate (p=0.787), cleavage rate (p=0.645), or blastocyst formation rate (p=0.387). Similarly, clinical outcomes—including implantation, clinical pregnancy, and live birth rates—showed no significant differences between the groups, regardless of initial sperm DNA fragmentation levels.
Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that microfluidic sperm selection may attenuate the potential adverse effects of high sperm DNA fragmentation on IVF outcomes. The lack of significant differences between groups indicates that this technique could be an effective tool for selecting spermatozoa with higher genomic integrity. However, due to the limited sample size, further studies with larger cohorts are warranted to confirm these results and more clearly define the clinical role of microfluidics in cases of high sperm DNA fragmentation.