%0 Journal Article
%T Acrosin activity negatively influences the cumulative live birth rate in patients undergoing IVF treatment.
%A Zhao S
%A Zhang R
%A Wang L
%A Zhao D
%A Tang L
%A Rao M
%J Reprod Biomed Online
%V 49
%N 3
%D 2024 Apr 15
%M 38901380
%F 4.567
%R 10.1016/j.rbmo.2024.103993
%X <B>OBJECTIVE: </B>Is acrosin activity related to cumulative live birth rate (CLBR) over 1 year after IVF, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatment or both?<BR><B>METHODS: </B>Retrospective monocentric cohort study of 5704 couples who started IVF/ICSI treatments between 2016 and 2021. Acrosin activity was determined by a modified Kennedy method using a commercial kit. Patients were divided into two groups according to their acrosin activity: below 25 μIU/106 spermatozoa; and an acrosin activity 25 μIU/106 spermatozoa or above. Primary outcome was the CLBR, defined as an ongoing pregnancy leading to live birth that had arisen from all embryo transfers carried out within 1 year after the first ovum retrieval. Both conservative and optimistic methods were used for estimating CLBRs.<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>The CLBRs of patients with an acrosin activity below 25 μIU/106 spermatozoa were found to be significantly lower than those of patients with an acrosin activity 25 μIU/106 spermatozoa or above by conservative (48.5% versus 55.4%, P = 0.02) and optimistic (63.7% versus 70.3%, P = 0.047) methods after adjusting for confounders. When acrosin activity was regarded as a continuous variable, significant negative relationships between acrosin activity and CLBR were identified in subgroups: young couples (men and women aged younger than 30 years) and couples from whom no more than 10 eggs were retrieved.<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>Low acrosin activity levels were correlated with decreasing CLBRs over 1 year. These findings suggest that acrosin activity can be used as a predictor for CLBRs before starting IVF/ICSI treatment to enhance the effectiveness of counselling.