Effect of follicular fluid supplementation on the in vitro development of human pre-embryos.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the value of supplementing a standard culture medium with 10% heat-inactivated mature follicular fluid (FF).


METHODS
Prospective randomized study evaluating the in vitro development of nontransferred, nonfrozen human pre-embryos in three culture conditions from day 3 to day 8 postfertilization. Preliminary evaluation by RIA and electrophoresis of factors responsible for these results.


RESULTS
Ten percent mature FF supplementation of Inra Menezo (B2 medium) was associated with a significantly higher proportion of human pre-embryos reaching the morula (95% versus 72% with 10% maternal serum, P = 0.04) and the blastocyst stage (50% versus 11% with B2 alone, P = 0.02). The concentration of insulin-like growth factors I and II did not differ significantly between serum and mature FF-supplemented medium. Protein electrophoresis showed a difference of two bands corresponding to a molecular weight of 17,000 present in the serum and not in the FF-supplemented medium.


CONCLUSIONS
Culture medium supplementation with 10% mature FF is associated with a significantly higher proportion of pre-embryos reaching the morula and blastocyst stage. The observed difference could be explained by the presence of a low molecular weight (17,000) embryotoxic factor contained in the serum-supplemented medium.
Hemmings
R
R
Institut de Médecine de la Reproduction; McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Lachapelle
M H
MH
Falcone
T
T
Miron
P
P
Ward
L
L
Guyda
H
H
D001755:Blastocyst / Q000502:physiology; D003470:Culture Media; D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned; D046508:Culture Techniques; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development; D005260:Female; D015571:Follicular Fluid / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism; D007335:Insulin-Like Growth Factor II / Q000378:metabolism; D009028:Morula / Q000502:physiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011897:Random Allocation; D015053:Zygote / Q000502:physiology*
D003470:Culture Media; D017077:Culture Media, Conditioned; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D007335:Insulin-Like Growth Factor II