BACKGROUND The reduction of multiple pregnancies by using elective single embryo transfers (eSET) requires critical and careful selection of the embryo for transfer. The current study was undertaken to assess whether early cleavage could be used as a marker of embryo competence in eSET procedures. METHODS The study included analysis of 178 eSET procedures. All embryos were checked for early c...

Introduction: Women with poorly controlled insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) have a much higher incidence of early pregnancy complications, these include spontaneous miscarriages, early growth delay, and congenital malformations. Most of the investigations have been devoted to the early post implantation and organogenesis period of pregnancy. In this research we studied the hyperglycem...

Production of high quality embryos in vitro needs an efficient in vitro fertilization (IVF). Seminal origin is one of the important factors that affects the success of in vitro embryo production. So our goal was to determine the effect of using fresh and frozen semen in fertilization on developmental competence and cryo-survival of buffalo embryos. Buffalo oocytes wer...

The sensitivity of early preimplantation mouse embryos to drugs which disrupt microfilament function (cytochalasin B-CB and cytochalasin D-CD and microtubule assembly (colchicine, colcemid, vinblastine and griseofulvin) was examined. CD inhibited cleavage at a concentration 35-fold lower than CB (3 X 10-7 M v. 1 X 10-5 M). Treatment of 2-cell embryos for 6 h with 1 X 10-5 M CB or 1 X 10-6 M CD...

Mitochondria of early Drosophila embryos were observed with a transmission electron microscope and a fluorescent microscope after vital staining with rhodamine 123, which accumulates only in active mitochondria. Rhodamine 123 accumulated particularly in the posterior pole region in early cleavage embryos, whereas the spatial distribution of mitochondria in an embryo was uniform throughout cleav...

nowadays gamete and embryo freezing is an appropriate approach for preserving of genetic traits in laboratory animals, rare and endangered species. frozen cells are suitable replace for actively breeding animals colony. the aim of this study was to perserve laboratory mouse embryo, using vitrification method and comparing effect of two cryoprotectants, glycerol-sucrose(gs) and ethylene glycol-f...

BACKGROUND The absence of reliable markers for the identification of viable embryos for transfer at the early cleavage stage is likely to contribute to the generally low implantation rates and high incidence of multiple gestation in IVF treatment. In this study, we investigate the relationship between timing of first cleavage and the incidence of blastocyst formation in vitro. METHODS Couples...

Despite efforts made to improve the in vitro embryo culture conditions used during assisted reproduction procedures, human embryos must adapt to different in vitro oxygen concentrations and the new metabolic milieu provided by the diverse culture media used for such protocols. It has been shown that the embryo culture environment can affect not only cellular metabolism, but also gene expression...

Background: Parthenogenetic activation is a possible way to produce homogeneous embryos with the some ploidy. Probably such embryos could be used in other areas of biotechnology. Calcium signals are known as important regulators of oocyte activation. Extracellular calcium is required for initiation of meiotic resumption and development. Calcium ionophore A23187 is known to elevate intracellular...

Fertilized eggs of the Japanese newt, Cynops pyrrhogaster, were divided into two or four equal-sized parts with fine glass rods before the first cleavage. In such cases one of the egg fragments, at least, proceeds to cleavage and gastrulates. The temporal pattern of cell division and the onset of gastrulation in such half or quarter embryos were investigated and compared with normal development...