Metabolic Impact on Offspring Similar for Frozen, Fresh Embryo Transfer

FRIDAY, June 7, 2024 (HealthDay News) — For glucose and lipid profiles during early childhood, the impact of frozen embryo transfer (FET) is comparable to that of fresh embryo transfer, according to a study published online June 6 in PLOS Medicine.

Wei Zhou, from Shandong University in Jinan, China, and colleagues compared the metabolic profiles of children born after frozen versus fresh embryo transfer at 2 to 5 years of age in a prospective cohort study. A total of 4,246 singletons born after FET and fresh embryo transfer (2,181 and 2,065, respectively) enrolled between 2008 and 2019 were included; glucose and lipid variables were examined until the age of 2 to 5 years.

The researchers found that in the crude and adjusted models, there were no significant differences in fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance index, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels between offspring conceived by fresh and frozen embryo transfer. Across subgroup analyses considering offspring age, the stage of embryo transfer, and the mode of fertilization, these results remained consistent.

“Compared to offspring born after fresh embryo transfer, those born after FET showed no significant adverse metabolic changes during early childhood in our large sample size study,” the authors write. “However, the long-term metabolic health of offspring conceived through FET remains a concern, and continuous monitoring of their long-term metabolic health is necessary.”

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