Glutamine improves human preimplantation development in vitro.
OBJECTIVE
To study the effect of glutamine on human preimplantation embryo development in vitro.


METHODS
A randomized, controlled, prospective study of 138 normally fertilized and nontransferred human embryos. On day 2 after fertilization, the embryos were allocated randomly to glucose-free medium with or without 1 mM of glutamine.


METHODS
A university hospital-based IVF-ET program.


METHODS
Couples undergoing IVF treatment.


METHODS
Embryo culture.


METHODS
Blastocyst formation, trophectoderm and inner cell mass numbers, and pyruvate uptake and lactate production by individual embryos.


RESULTS
A higher proportion of embryos reached the morula (89% versus 68%, respectively) and blastocyst (71% versus 54%, respectively) stages when cultured with glutamine compared with embryos cultured without glutamine. Blastocyst cell numbers were not statistically significantly different for embryos grown in the presence or absence of glutamine. Pyruvate uptake and lactate production were higher in the presence of glutamine throughout development; these increases were statistically significant at the blastocyst stage.


CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrates that supplementation of the culture medium with glutamine is beneficial for human preimplantation embryo development in vitro, increasing the proportion of embryos that develop to the morula and blastocyst stages.
Devreker
F
F
Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Hospital Erasme, Brussels, Belgium.
Winston
R M
RM
Hardy
K
K
D001755:Blastocyst / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D002452:Cell Count / Q000187:drug effects; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects; D003470:Culture Media / Q000737:chemistry; D046508:Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000379:methods*; D005973:Glutamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D007773:Lactates / Q000378:metabolism; D008938:Mitosis / Q000187:drug effects; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D019289:Pyruvic Acid / Q000378:metabolism
D003470:Culture Media; D007773:Lactates; D005973:Glutamine; D019289:Pyruvic Acid