title: Developmental competence in vitro and in vivo of bovine IVF blastocyst after 15 years of vitrification.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is uncertain whether long-term cryopreservation affects embryonic development.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study was to investigate the effects of long-term cryopreservation on in vitro and in vivo developmental competence of bovine blastocysts.
  
  
  METHODS
  The blastocysts were randomly allocated into 3 groups based on the storage time: 0.5-year group, 1-year group and 15-years group. The thawed blastocysts were subjected to in vitro culture or embryo transplantation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significantly lower survival rate (89.2%) and re-expansion rate (70.3%) of blastocysts were obtained from 15-years group compared with those of 0.5-year (97.5% and 87.5%) and 1-year (100% and 84.2%) groups (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the hatching rate (39.5% to 42.5%) among the three groups and the pregnancy rate between 1-year (35.0%) and 15-years (36.4%) groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although in vitro developmental competence of the 15 years cryopreserved blastocysts was decreased slightly, the pregnancy outcome was not affected.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Bingjing AnBo Embryo Biotech Center, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction, Ministry of Agriculture and National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D002417:Cattle; D002470:Cell Survival; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000662:veterinary*; D011247:Pregnancy; D018873:Pregnancy Rate; D058989:Vitrification