Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) has been shown to increase the proportion of embryos forming blastocysts and the number of inner cell mass cells in human and other mammalian preimplantation embryos. Here we examined whether the increased cell number resulted from increased cell division or decreased cell death. Normally fertilized, Day 2 human embryos of good morphology were cultured to Da...

OBJECTIVE The appropriate interaction between a blastocyst and the endometrium is essential for successful implantation. Numerous factors, including hormone receptors (progesterone receptor), cytokines [leukemia inhibitory factors (LIF)], and adherence molecules such as E-cadherin are involved in the cross-talk that occurs between the embryo and endometrium. Studies show that a lack of these ge...

embryonic stem cells (escs) are originally derived from the icm of blastocysts and are characterized by their ability to self-renew and their pluripotencies. only a few reports have been published on esc isolations and line establishment in animals, even fewer in horses. however, it is still important to isolate equine escs for animal biotechnology and therapeutic applications. in the present s...

BACKGROUND To optimize blastocyst cryopreservation, the prerequisite is to develop a better understanding of factors that influence their survival and implantation potential. Therefore, the aim of the present work was to evaluate, retrospectively, the outcome of blastocyst cryopreservation in a day 2/3 fresh embryo transfer programme. METHODS Two different freezing strategies were compared: a...

Survival and development of human embryos was compared following slow cooling versus vitrification involving more than 13,000 vitrified embryos. In addition, the efficacy of an open system, the Cryotop, and a closed vitrification system, the CryoTip(trade mark), were compared using human blastocysts. One hundred percent of vitrified human pronuclear stage embryos survived and 52% developed to b...

BACKGROUND Fresh embryo transfer results in higher live birth rates, while thawed embryo transfer appears to result in healthier babies. This study aims to investigate the association between the transfer of fresh or thawed embryos at the cleavage or blastocyst stage and the perinatal outcomes. METHODS This analysis is a retrospective population-based study of 150 376 autologous embryo transf...

BACKGROUND Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is known to promote the development and survival of human and mouse preimplantation embryos; however, the mechanism of action of GM-CSF in embryos is not defined. METHODS Mouse blastocysts were cultured from zygote stage in vitro with and without recombinant mouse GM-CSF (rmGM-CSF), and in vivo developed blastocysts were flu...

BACKGROUND The present study was undertaken to examine the usefulness of both vitrification and assisted hatching (AH) on blastocysts that originate from embryos showing different qualities during their cleavage stage. METHODS A total of 281 blastocysts were vitrified (93 vitrification-warming cycles) in a mixture of ethylene glycol-dimethylsulphoxide-Ficoll and sucrose using the Hemi-Straw (...

background: melatonin, a reactive oxygen species (ros) scavenger and an antioxidant, has been shown that can inhibit apoptosis. administration of melatonin may improve embryo development in assisted reproductive technology (art). objective: the aim of this study was to evaluate the role of melatonin in inhibition of spontaneous and induced apoptosis by tumor necrosis factor alph (tnf-α) and act...