title: Ginsenoside Rg1 Improves In vitro-produced Embryo Quality by Increasing Glucose Uptake in Porcine Blastocysts.
abstract: Ginsenoside Rg1 is a natural compound with various efficacies and functions. It has beneficial effects on aging, diabetes, and immunity, as well as antioxidant and proliferative functions. However, its effect on porcine embryo development remains unknown. We investigated the effect of ginsenoside Rg1 on the in vitro development of preimplantation porcine embryos after parthenogenetic activation in high-oxygen conditions. Ginsenoside treatment did not affect cleavage or blastocyst formation rates, but did increase the total cell number and reduced the rate of apoptosis. In addition, it had no effect on the expression of four apoptosis-related genes (Bcl-2 homologous antagonist/killer, B-cell lymphoma-extra large, Caspase 3, and tumor protein p53) or two metabolism-related genes (mechanistic target of rapamycin, carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1B), but increased the expression of Glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1), indicating that it may increase glucose uptake. In summary, treatment with the appropriate concentration of ginsenoside Rg1 (20 μg/mL) can increase glucose uptake, thereby improving the quality of embryos grown in high-oxygen conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Animal Biotechnology Major, and Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung-Hun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Animal Biotechnology Major, and Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921, Korea.
authors.forename: Kwang-Hwan
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Animal Biotechnology Major, and Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921, Korea.
authors.forename: Dong-Kyung
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Animal Biotechnology Major, and Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921, Korea.
authors.forename: Jong-Nam
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Animal Biotechnology Major, and Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921, Korea.|Department of Animal Life Science, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Yeon
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.affiliation: Designed Animal and Transplantation Research Institute, Institute of Green Bio Science and Technology, Seoul National University, Pyeongchang 232-916, Korea.
authors.forename: Chi-Hun
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Animal Biotechnology Major, and Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Science, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921, Korea.|Designed Animal and Transplantation Research Institute, Institute of Green Bio Science and Technology, Seoul National University, Pyeongchang 232-916, Korea.
authors.forename: Chang-Kyu
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Lee
keywords: Embryo; Ginsenoside Rg1; In vitro Culture; Metabolism; Pig