title: [Contribution of animal models to the study of reproduction, assisted reproductive technologies and of development].
abstract: Children conceived through assisted reproductive technologies (ART) now account for a noteworthy proportion (-2.4%) of births in France. Considerable attention is being paid to the outcome of ART pregnancies. The vast majority of these children are apparently normal. However, they are at an increased risk of minor birth defects, low birth weight, and rare imprinting disorders such as Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS), Angelman syndrome (AS) and Silver Russel syndrome (SRS). Animal models are important for investigating the possible role of each step of ART (ovarian stimulation, gamete manipulation, in vitro fertilization, embryo culture and embryo transfer) in epigenetic reprogramming This review discusses these issues in the context of epigenetic and developmental abnormalities observed in animals following ART More research is needed on ART-induced errors, focusing not only on genomic imprinting but also on non-imprinted loci, which may help explain some of the more subtle longer-term health effects emerging from studies with animal models.
authors.affiliation: Biology of development and reproduction, UMR INRA-ENVA, Domaine de Vilvert, Bâtiment 230--78352 Jouy en Josas cédex France. helene-jammes@jouy.inra.fr
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jammes
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fauque
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jouannet
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D047108:Embryonic Development; D006801:Humans; D023421:Models, Animal; D027724:Reproductive Techniques, Assisted