title: The effect of the incubation temperature on the cleavage rate of mouse embryos in vitro.
abstract: We have studied the effect of an elevated incubation temperature on the in vitro cleavage rate of one- and two-cell mouse embryos. Two-cell embryos demonstrated a significantly higher rate of cleavage when incubated at 39 degrees C as compared to 37 or 41 degrees C. When recovered at the one-cell stage, the difference in cleavage rate between the groups incubated at 37 and 39 degrees C did not reach significance. While the morphology of the embryos incubated at 37 degrees C did not differ from that of the embryos incubated at 39 degrees C in either group, a significantly higher rate of degeneration was noted in the group of two-cell embryos incubated at 41 degrees C. These findings may apply to the human in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer system (IVF-ET), where the existing "lag" between embryo and endometrium could be narrowed if embryo cleavage rates could be accelerated. Further documentation of the normality of these "advanced" embryos is required.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lavy
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Diamond
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pellicer
authors.forename: W K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Vaughn
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Decherney
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000166:cytology; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D051379:Mice; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors