Improved human zygote development in a modified Ham's F10 medium in vitro.
OBJECTIVE
Our purpose was to determine the effect of modified Ham's F10 media with and without glucose, hypoxanthine, phosphate, and transition metals (MM) on human embryo development.


METHODS
Patients with at least one zygote were randomized by alternate assignment to one of the treatment groups. The treatment groups were as follows: normal Hams F10, MM, and MM with 0.5 mM glucose (LGMM). Patients were undergoing in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer or frozen-thawed embryo transfer. Zygotes (fresh and frozen-thawed) were incubated in one of three media for 24 hr before transfer. The groups were compared with respect to embryo quality, number of embryos transferred, age of the patients, clinical pregnancy rate, and implantation rate.


RESULTS
The clinical pregnancy rate and the implantation rate were significantly higher in the group of patients whose zygotes were cultured in MM. LGMM did not appear to improve the pregnancy outcome compared to normal Ham's F10. However, the quality of the embryos cultured in MM or LGMM appears to be superior to the normal Ham's F10 with respect to the number of excellent and good-quality embryos and embryos without fragments.


CONCLUSIONS
A modified Ham's F10 medium (MM) without added glucose appears to be superior to normal Ham's F10 for culture of human zygotes for embryo transfer.
Mahadevan
M M
MM
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, USA.
Miller
M M
MM
Moutos
D M
DM
D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry*; D004624:Embryo Transfer; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006801:Humans; D007552:Isotonic Solutions / Q000737:chemistry*
D003470:Culture Media; D007552:Isotonic Solutions; C083923:nutrient mixture F-10 Ham