High percentages of embryos with 21, 18 or 13 trisomy are related to advanced paternal age in donor egg cycles.

OBJECTIVE: Advanced paternal age is related to poor sperm quality; however, little is known on its effect on aneuploidy embryo rates and, more importantly, on chromosomal abnormalities like trisomy 21, 18 and 13. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of advanced paternal age on the trisomy rates of the chromosomes 21, 18 or 13 in embryos obtained from donated oocytes.

METHODS: A total of 378 embryos, obtained from 52 IVF/ICSI cycles with donated oocytes in conjunction with PGD, were allocated according to paternal age in three groups: Group A: ≤39 years (n=115 embryos), Group B: 40-49 years (n=157 embryos) and Group C: ≥50 year (n=106 embryos). Fertilization rates, embryo quality at day 3, blastocysts development, and aneuploidy embryo rates were then compared.

RESULTS: There was no difference in seminal parameters (volume, concentration and motility) in the studied groups. Fertilization rate, percentages of zygotes that underwent cleavage, and good-quality embryos on Day 3 were similar between the three groups evaluated. The group of men ≥50 years had significantly more sperm with damaged DNA, higher global aneuploidy rates, and significantly more embryos with trisomy 21, 18 or 13 compared to the other two evaluated groups (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Our data shows that advanced paternal age increases global chromosomal abnormalities, and percentages of trisomy 21, 18 or 13 in embryos, and such effect is significantly important as of the age of 50. Embryo genetic screening is highly recommended in patients in which paternal age is ≥50 years old.