Introduction: The field of assisted reproductive technology (ART) has significantly advanced; however, morphological evaluation remains as the chosen method of assessment of embryo quality.
Objective: We aimed to examine metabolic changes in embryo culture medium to develop a non-invasive method for evaluation of embryo quality.
Methods: We performed metabolic analysis of culture medium obtained from a single blastocyst cultured for freezing.
Results: In total, 187 (39.8%) of the 469 detectable organic acid metabolites were identified. A significant change (p < 0.05) was observed in eight metabolites between the good-quality and poor-quality embryo groups. Differences were observed in several metabolic pathways between the good-quality and poor-quality embryo groups. Metabolites that showed significant changes were primarily involved in the metabolism of branched-chain amino acids.
Conclusion: The quantification of metabolism in human embryos may assist in identification and selection of good-quality embryos with high rates of survival before freezing and implantation in conjunction with morphological classification. This may help to identify embryos with high rates of survival.
Keywords: Branched-chain amino acids; Culture medium; Embryo quality; Metabolomics.