title: Oxidative stress status and development of late organogenesis stage rat whole embryos cultured from gestational days 13.5 to 14.5.
abstract: A new method for culturing rodent whole embryos at the late organogenesis stage was developed using a roller-bottle system with intermittent gassing. Rat embryos were cultured for 24 h from gestational day (GD) 13.5 to 14.5. Growth and metabolic comparisons were made between in vivo embryos and embryos of the same GD cultured under various media and conditions. Crown-rump length, head length and protein content were used as growth indicators. Biologic markers such as embryonic tissue concentration of glutathione (GSH), glutathione disulfide (GSSG) and lipid peroxidation were used as assessments of metabolic activity in terms of oxidative stress. Embryos cultured with media consisting of either 15% or 20% male rat serum and balanced with Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) were found to most closely match in vivo embryos. 6 h gassing intervals and 5 mL medium volume/embryo provided optimal conditions for cultured embryos. By shortening the 24 h embryo culture period to 12 h, embryonic haemorrhaging was avoided. Moreover, the 12-h cultured embryos showed similar redox GSH/GSSG ratios and similar GSH content to the in vivo embryos, which was not observed in the embryos cultured under 24 h culture conditions. The present work demonstrates the utility of late organogenesis stage embryo culture as a model for the assessment of in vivo embryonic growth and oxidative stress indices.
authors.affiliation: School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, Macdonald Campus of McGill University, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada H9X 3V9.
authors.forename: Jiun-Ni
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Hing Man
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Stan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kubow
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers; D003470:Culture Media; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000378:metabolism*; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D005978:Glutathione / Q000378:metabolism; D006257:Head / Q000254:growth & development; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D038081:Organogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D003470:Culture Media; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances; D005978:Glutathione