P-63: Comparison of The Efficacy of Two Culture Media (Handmade vs. Commercial) on In Vitro Development of Vitrified and Non-Vitrified Mouse Embryos

Background: While assisted reproductive techniques (ARTs) are considered to be safe, many concerns exist about the safety of these techniques. Two important and indispensable parts of these techniques are in vitro culture and vitrification. While much progress has been made in developing culture conditions, it remains suboptimal. In order to investigate the effect of culture medium on in vitro development of vitrified and non-vitrified mouse embryos we conducted this study. Materials and Methods: In this regard female mice were superovulated and mated. At ~36 h post hCG injection, the oviducts were flushed for collection of 2-cell stage embryo. These embryos were randomly assigned to vitrified and non-vitrified groups. After vitrification/warming procedure, warmed (not-fresh) and fresh embryos were cultured in mSOF or G1/G2 media up to the blastocyst stage and the effect of the different culture media on the blastocyst formation and the hatching process of blastocysts was evaluated. Results: The survival rate was not significantly different between the treatment groups. The percentage of 2-cell stage embryos that developed to the blastocyst stage was significantly lower in the mSOF/warmed group (76 ± 1.97%) compare to other treatment groups. There were no significant difference between the blastocyst formation of fresh/G1/G2, warmed/G1/G2, and fresh/ mSOF groups (89.33 ± 1.2%, 83.67 ± 1.8% and 87 ± 1.5%, respectively). The hatching process of blastocysts was also evaluated. The hatching rate was significantly lower in the mSOF/warmed group (51.67 ± 1.82%) in compare to fresh/G1/G2 and fresh/mSOF (68 ± 1.42%, 64 ± 1.64%, respectively). Conclusion: These results revealed that commercially G1/G2 medium is superior to handmade mSOF medium for culturing and in vitro development of 2-cell stage mouse embryos.