title: The effects of the progesterone antagonist RU-486 on mouse preimplantation development in vitro and in vivo.
abstract: We have evaluated the effects of RU-486 on preimplantation development in the mouse. Female mice received a subcutaneous injection of 1mg RU-486 with hCG on the morning post-coitus. Two-cell embryos were recovered from the oviducts and cultured in the presence or absence of RU-486. Three days later we found that 2-cell embryos exposed to RU-486 in vivo developed to the blastocyst stage at rates similar to control regardless of whether RU-486 was present in culture medium. Transfer experiments revealed that embryos retrieved from RU-486-treated females developed normally in the reproductive tracts of non-treated control foster mothers. However, when control 2-cell embryos were transferred to RU-486-treated foster mothers, development was not supported. We conclude that the contragestational properties of periovulatory treatment with RU-486 is not the result of a direct effect on the cleavage stage embryo but on the reproductive tract of the mother.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Ohio State University, Columbus 43210.
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Batten
authors.forename: S I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Roh
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin / Q000494:pharmacology; D004624:Embryo Transfer; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000187:drug effects*; D004963:Estrenes / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D015735:Mifepristone; D010057:Oviducts / Q000187:drug effects; D011247:Pregnancy; D014599:Uterus / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D006063:Chorionic Gonadotropin; D004963:Estrenes; D015735:Mifepristone