Nigeria has deployed the first Non-invasive Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidy (NiPGT-A ), a technique that determine the embryo’s chromosomal health and identify any potential abnormalities, without removing cells for biopsy.
The novel technique helps fertility experts to examine embryos without removing cells for biopsy, ultimately reducing the risk of implantation failure, and recurrent miscarriage, among others.
Pioneer of the technique in Nigeria, Nordica Fertility Clinic, Lagos, disclosed that the NiPGT-A technique reduces potential risks associated with traditional biopsy procedures, making it much safer and more accurate.
The managing director, of Nordica Fertility Centre, Lagos, Asaba, and Abuja, Dr Abayomi Ajayi, told LEADERSHIP that the non-invasive process is done by examining the culture medium surrounding the embryo, which contains shed fetal DNA, instead of taking cells directly from the embryo, adding that with the technique, it is possible to determine the embryo’s chromosomal health and identify any potential abnormalities.
Ajayi, while speaking on the benefits of NiPGT-A over traditional preimplantation genetic testing (PGT-A) that involves embryo biopsy, posited that, “The advantages are the same worldwide, but cost is one thing that is very important in this part of the world. So we believe that this is going to reduce cost. The main reason why people do IVF in the first place, is for them to get babies. So it’s also going to improve the success rate of IVF because we’ll be able to select embryos that are most likely to become babies. It will also reduces the risk to embryos.”
The chief embryologist, Nordica Fertility Centre, Roselyn Obasa-Gbadebo, said the non-invasive method of testing for aneuploidy was being made available in Nigeria for the first time. “Today, we are introducing this non-invasive testing method for this aneuploidy in Nigeria. Everything we’re doing now is non-invasive,” she revealed.
Obasa-Gbadebo, explained that, reproduction is divided into two parts, the fertilization and then the implantation. “In IVF, we bring the sperm and the egg together, after fertilization, we then insert the fertilized egg(s) inside the woman and then implantation takes place in the womb. However the NiPGT-A test must be done before we insert the embryo inside the woman’s womb,” she added.
Recalling that the chromosomes are the 23 pairs of strands in the cells, the embryologist said, “the 23 pairs are supposed to come into one pair, one from each parent. Sometimes you could have only one instead of two, sometimes you can have three instead of two, and this is what we call aneuploidy, which is the occurrence of one or more extra or missing chromosomes leading to an unbalanced chromosome complement, or any chromosome number that is not an exact multiple of the haploid number (which is 23).
“We have seen that this is the commonest reason why there is either implantation failure or even recurrent miscarriage. The only way we could screen for aneuploidy traditionally was to take a sample from the embryo and then test it to see whether the chromosomes were normal in number or structure.
“If the embryos have an abnormal number of chromosomes, they can form into abnormal babies. That is why we see some babies with Down syndrome, Edward’s syndrome or trisomy. So this is why it is so important for us to screen for aneuploidy. With the NiPGT-A however, we can screen for aneuploidy without having to take a biopsy from the embryo.”