title: Improved development of very-poor-quality human preembryos by coculture with human fallopian ampullary cells.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether a confluent culture of fallopian ampullary epithelial cells, taken from women at the end of their reproductive life, is capable of rescuing very-poor-quality preembryos from cleavage arrest and/or degeneration.
  
  
  METHODS
  Human preembryos. rejected for transfer or freezing because of very poor quality, and arrested within 24 h of cleavage, were cultured for 5 days in medium alone or over a confluent culture of fallopian ampullary epithelia] cells. Morphological criteria were utilized to assess preembryo degeneration and stage of development.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The described coculture rescued preembryos from degeneration, enhancing development to the blastocyst stage 2.2-fold, compared with cultures in medium alone. Furthermore, fully expanded and hatching blastocysts were observed only under coculture conditions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Very-poor-quality human preembryos may be rescued from degeneration, and their growth and development dramatically improved, when cocultured with a confluent culture of fallopian ampullary epithelial cells.
authors.affiliation: Faulkner Institute for Reproductive Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Amnon
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weichselbaum
authors.forename: Yoav
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Paltieli
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Philosoph
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rivnay
authors.forename: Raymond
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Coleman
authors.forename: Machelle M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Seibel
authors.forename: Shalom
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bar-Ami
mesh_terms: D002450:Cell Communication; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002970:Cleavage Stage, Ovum / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D004624:Embryo Transfer; D005187:Fallopian Tubes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro; D006801:Humans