title: Adverse effects of advanced glycation end products on embryonal development.
abstract: We studied the effects of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), which are known to accumulate in patients with diabetes, autoimmune diseases, or those who smoke, on embryonal development. Pronuclear (PN) embryos were obtained by flushing the fallopian tubes of rats after superovulation and mating. The cleavage rate and blastocyst yield were evaluated at 24, 72, 96, and 120 h of culture. Glyoxal, an AGE-forming aldehyde, suppressed embryonal development at every stage from PN to blastocyst in a concentration-dependent manner. The cleavage rate of the embryo was also signifi cantly decreased by treatment with glyoxal at concentrations of 1 mM or higher. The blastocyst yield was significantly decreased by treatment with glyoxal at concentrations of 0.5 mM or higher. N-acetyl-L-cysteine (L-NAC) at 1 mM significantly suppressed the glyoxal-induced embryonal toxicity. BSA-AGEs at 5 microg/ml or higher concentration signifi cantly reduced the cleavage rate and blastocyst yield compared to those for BSA-treated embryos. L-NAC at 1 mM significantly suppressed BSAAGE-induced embryonal toxicity. Because AGEs are embryo-toxic, AGE contamination may influence the pregnancy rate of in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer. AGEs, which are increased in women under pathological conditions, may also be involved in their infertility.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama 700-8558, Japan.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.forename: Soichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Noguchi
authors.forename: Yasuhiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kamada
authors.forename: Aiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Miwa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hiramatsu
authors.forename: Mikiya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakatsuka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D017127:Glycation End Products, Advanced / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006037:Glyoxal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
chemical_list: D017127:Glycation End Products, Advanced; D006037:Glyoxal