The findings of a recent study of maternal spindle transfer (MST) have shown its capability as a treatment for infertility and its potential limitations for the avoidance of mitochondrial disorders.
Carried out in Greece, at the Institute of Life-IASO IVF Centre, the results from this first clinical pilot study were published online in the Fertility and Sterility journal.
The project involved a multidisciplinary team of scientists from institutions like Embryotools from Spain, Juno Genetics from the UK, the University of Oxford from the UK, and the US-based Oregon Health & Science University.
The exploratory study assessed the safety and efficacy of the maternal spindle transfer technique in humans for infertility treatment.
Institute of Life said that the study resulted in the birth of six children to patients with a history of previously unsuccessful in vitro fertilisation (IVF) attempts.
Additionally, the findings showed the potential application of MST to lower the risk of disease transmission in patients with pathogenic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations.
MST technique is said to be an advanced laboratory technique that is a part of the family of methods known collectively as mitochondrial replacement therapies (MRTs).
The method replaces the patient’s egg cytoplasm with cytoplasm taken from a young, donated egg while retaining the patient’s nuclear genetic material.
Approved by the Greek National Authority of Assisted Reproduction, the exploratory pilot study started in 2018. It was conducted on 25 infertile couples who were selected based on their history of unsuccessful IVF treatments, associated with poor egg quality.
According to the Institute of Life, the results monitored included the IVF success, parameters related to the technique, and paediatric follow-up to evaluate the health of children born after the procedure.
The data from the trial suggested that the MST can help a class of infertile patients that has been difficult to treat with conventional methods.
In total, 28 maternal spindle transfer attempts were conducted, resulting in the birth of six babies, the IASO IVF Centre added. The health and developmental status of the children were also found to be satisfactory.
However, the researchers emphasised that this was a pilot study and was limited in size and scope.
