Many investigators are interested in finding the new cultural systems that can support the in vitro development of pre-implantation embryos better. Previous studies suggested that growth factors such as epidermal growth factor (EGF) are important in pre-implantation embryo development and implantation process. On the other hand, it is very important to support post thaw development of frozen em...

Background: The mitochondria are an important source of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production in pre-implantation embryo. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the effect of vitrification and in vitro culture of mouse embryos on their mitochondrial distribution and ATP content. Methods: The embryos at 2-PN, 4-cell and blastocyst stages were collected from the oviduct of st...

To evaluate the potential effects of melatonin on the kinetics of embryo development and quality of blastocyst during the process of in vitro bovine embryo culture. Bovine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were fertilized after in vitro maturation. The presumed zygotes were cultured in in vitro culture medium supplemented with or without 10(-7) M melatonin. The cleavage rate, 8-cell rate and blas...

Cryopreservation and sexing of embryos are integrated into commercial embryo transfer technologies. To improve the effectiveness of vitrification of in vitro produced buffalo embryos, two experiments were conducted. The first evaluated the effect of exposure time (2 and 3 min) and developmental stage (morula and blastocysts) on the viability and development of vitrified buffalo embryos. Morphol...

Cryopreservation and sexing of embryos are integrated into commercial embryo transfer technologies. To improve the effectiveness of vitrification of in vitro produced buffalo embryos, two experiments were conducted. The first evaluated the effect of exposure time (2 and 3 min) and developmental stage (morula and blastocysts) on the viability and development of vitrified buffalo embryos. Morphol...

The feasibility of cryopreserving common carp (Cyprinus carpio) primordial germ cells (PGC) by vitrification of whole embryos at the 22- to 28-somite stage was investigated. Green fluorescent protein (GFP)-labeled PGC were cooled rapidly using liquid nitrogen after exposure to a pretreatment solution containing 1.5 M cryoprotectant (ethylene glycol or dimethyl sulfoxide, 30 or 50 min) and a vit...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to examine the effects on blastocyst survival and subsequent pregnancy rate of 'artificial shrinkage' (i.e. induced collapse of the blastocoele) before vitrification of human blastocysts. METHODS After embryo transfer in IVF cycles, surplus embryos that developed to the expanded blastocyst stage were cryopreserved. Before vitrification on electron micr...

In this study the efficacy of the combination of glycerol (GLY) and ethylene glycol (EG) as cryoprotectants in a vitrification method developed for direct embryo transfer was evaluated by in vitro development of in vitro fertilized (IVF) and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryos after vitrification. The IVF and SCNT blastocysts were vitrified in either 40% GLY, 30% GLY + 10% EG, or 20% G...

BACKGROUND Recent advancement of minimum volume vitrification methods has resulted in a dramatic increase in the efficiency of the process. The aim of this study was to estimate the cumulative reproductive outcome of a cohort of infertile couples undergoing ICSI and oocyte vitrification in restrictive legal conditions, where only a limited number of oocytes could be inseminated per cycle and em...

Contraction during the blastocyst stage is observed during embryonic development of various mammals, including humans, but the physiological role of this process is not well understood. Using time-lapse monitoring (TLM), we studied the influence of vitrification and contractions on embryonic development in mice. Mouse embryos were cultured at the 2-cell stage. At the 8-cell stage, embryos were ...