Detection of aneuploidy in human oocytes and corresponding first polar bodies by fluorescent in situ hybridization.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to investigate the reliability of the fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) analysis of the first polar body (IPB) for cytogenetic evaluation of human oocytes as a method of choice in preimplantation diagnosis of chromosomal aneuploidies.
DESIGN: Human unfertilized oocytes and their extruded IPB were analyzed using the directly labeled fluorescence alpha-satellite DNA probes to chromosomes X and 18.
RESULTS: Paired signals for chromosomes X and 18 were observed in the second meiotic prophase (MII) of unfertilized oocytes and their extruded IPB. In the series of 156 unfertilized oocytes in which the number of X chromosome- and chromosome 18-specific signals were analyzed in both MII and IPB, five nondisjunction events have been detected, with corresponding signals in MII and their IPB: missing signals in MII corresponded to extra signals in their IPB and extra signals in MII corresponded to missing signals in IPB. In one oocyte chromosome 18 nondisjunction was detected, with both chromosome 18 signals in MII and no chromosome 18 signal in IPB. In four oocytes chromatid malsegregations for chromosome X or chromosome 18 were detected: in two oocytes, three of four chromosome 18 signals were present in MII, with only one in IPB, and in the other two oocytes, three of four chromosome signals were present in MII, with only one left in IPB.
CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest the possibility of detecting chromosomal aneuploidy in oocytes through cytogenetic analysis of their corresponding IPB by FISH as a possible approach for preimplantation diagnosis of major chromosomal trisomies.