The Evaluation of Melatonin Effect on In-Vitro Development of Mouse Preimplantation Embryos

Purpose: Melatonin promotes in-vitro embryo development in different species. This study studied the effects of melatonin on in-vitro mouse preimplantation embryo development. Materials and Methods: Two-cell embryos were obtained from oviduct of 6-8 weeks female NMRI mice 48 hours after administration of an intra-peritoneal injection of 5 IU/ml pregnant mares’ serum gonadotrophin and subsequent 5 IU/ml human chorionic gonadotrophin (ip). Embryos were cultured in T6 culture medium supplemented with different dosages of melatonin {0 (control group), 100×10-6 M, 10×10-6 M, 1×10-6 M, 100×10-9 M and 10×10-9 M (1-5 treatment groups)}. With due attention to percent of embryos in different stages, the rate of development of embryos was assessed using of invert microscope. It is also compared to control group. Results: The results showed that the rate of cleavage and development of mouse the embryos to blastocyst stage increased significantly in the development culture medium supplemented with 10 and 100 nM/mg of melatonin in comparison to control group (p<0.001). Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate that, enriching the culture medium with melatonin, improve mouse preimplantation development.