title: Vitrification of cultured and non-cultured expanded and hatched porcine blastocysts.
abstract: The aim of this experiment was to examine the survival of porcine embryos following exposure or vitrification in EFS solution. The work was carried out on cultured and non-cultured expanded and hatched blastocysts. The viability of treated embryos was assessed by their ability to develop in in vitro culture. The results showed a higher viability of cultured expanded blastocyst (35.1 percent) vitrified in EFS medium compared to those non-cultured (12.5 percent). The proportion of cultured hatched blastocyst vitrified in this medium was 13.2 percent, while none of the non-cultured hatched blastocyst survived vitrification. It is concluded that: 1. The EFS solution was more toxic to hatched blastocyst than expanded blastocyst 2. The expanded blastocyst was a more suitable developmental stage for vitrification than hatched blastocyst. Moreover, we demonstrated that the survival rate of vitrified cultured pig blastocyst was higher compared to non-cultured.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Reproduction, National Research Institute of Animal Production, 32-083 Balice/Krakow, Poland. bgajda@izoo.krakow.pl
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gajda
authors.forename: Zdisław
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Smorag
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000502:physiology*; D015925:Cryopreservation; D046508:Culture Techniques; D020964:Embryo Loss; D005314:Embryonic and Fetal Development; D013552:Swine