Study of the Impact of Freezing-thawing Procedures and the Prolonged Culture of Embryos on Epigenetic Regulation in Humans

Study of the Impact of Freezing-thawing Procedures and the Prolonged Culture of Embryos on Epigenetic Regulation in Humans

For this project, 4 groups of 38 infants have been created so as to evaluate the impact of Assisted-Reproduction Technology (ART) and more particularly the two procedures classically used in ART: the freezing/thawing of embryos and prolonged embryo culture (five days of culture in appropriate in vitro conditions to allow development of the embryo) in contrast with shorter culture of only two days.

Participation consists in accepting samples to be taken at the birth of the infant:

1. from the umbilical cord.
2. from the placenta.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients who have provided written informed consent,
• Patients with national health insurance cover,
• Maternal age at conception between 20 and 43 years,
• Paternal age at conception between 18 and 50 years,
• Singleton pregnancy

Exclusion Criteria:

---Maternal disease:

• pulmonary, cardiac
• renal and metabolic diseases (including type 1 and 2 diabetes prior to the pregnancy)
• systemic inflammatory diseases
• hypertension
• neurological diseases
• chronic hepatitis B or C
• HIV infection