title: Comparison between human serum and Albuminar-20 (TM) supplement for in-vitro fertilization.
abstract: Patient or fetal cord serum is commonly used as a protein supplement to culture media used in in-vitro fertilization (IVF). To eliminate the variability and possible hazards related to the use of human serum, a well-defined protein supplement, Albuminar-20 (Armour Pharmaceutical Cy) was evaluated as a substitute for serum. Prior to its application in the human, Earle's culture media supplemented with 0.5% (w/v) bovine serum albumin, 8% (v/v) decomplemented patient serum or 2.25% (v/v) Albuminar-20 were compared in a mouse bioassay. For the three different conditions, the percentages of blastocysts formed after 120 h in-vitro culture were respectively 91.2, 85.2 and 87.8% (NS). In the human IVF, a controlled comparison was performed from October to December 1988, between Earle's medium supplemented with patients' serum or Albuminar-20. When oocytes and spermatozoa were cultured in these two media, the fertilization rates were similar, 58.9% in human serum versus 59.4% in Albuminar-20. After further culture, the morphological quality of the cleaved embryos was better in the embryos cultured in Albuminar-20. The higher pregnancy rate in Albuminar-20 was correlated with the better morphological appearance of the embryos and their more advanced cleavage stage at the time of transfer. Therefore, Albuminar-20 can be considered as a suitable protein supplement in human IVF.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Reproductive Medicine, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Staessen
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Van den Abbeel
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carlé
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Devroey
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Van Steirteghem
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay; D001798:Blood Proteins; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D003470:Culture Media; D005260:Female; D005306:Fertilization / Q000187:drug effects; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000379:methods*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D051379:Mice; D011247:Pregnancy; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D001798:Blood Proteins; D003470:Culture Media; D012709:Serum Albumin