A fertility doctor is under house arrest in Italy after a Spanish nurse told authorities some of her eggs were surgically removed without her consent at his clinic.

On Friday, Severino Antinori was taken into custody by police in Rome.

Authorities say the nurse, who had gone to Antinori's Milan clinic to explore job prospects, told investigators she was forcefully held, given anesthesia and had eggs removed after hormone treatment for an ovarian cyst.

On a TV show last month, Antinori denied that any eggs were taken from the woman without consent.

Police have sequestered several embryos at the clinic to determine if they were created with the woman's eggs.

Antinori made headlines in 1994 when a 63-year-old post-menopausal patient gave birth after the implantation of an embryo using donated eggs.