title: Effect of L-carnitine on in vitro developmental rate, the zona pellucida and hatching of blastocysts and their cell numbers in mouse embryos.
abstract: L-carnitine (LC) is an antioxidant with the ability to promote the growth in vitro embryo.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The goal was to evaluate the effect of LC on some indicators of embryo development and blastocyst quality including zona pellucid (ZP) thickness, the hatching of blastocysts and their cell numbers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mouse embryos were randomly divided into five groups and incubated with different concentrations of LC (I; 0, II; 0.5, III; 1, IV; 2 and V; 4 mg/ml) from 2-cell to hatched blastocyst. The percentage of blastocysts and hatched blastocysts was calculated. Blastocysts ZP thickness was measured and the number of blastocyst cells was counted using Hoechst and propidium iodide (PI) staining.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed concentration of 0.5 mg/ml of LC had an antioxidant effect as in this group, the percentage of blastocysts and hatched blactocysts (p=0.01), the ZP thickness (p=0.00) and the number of blastocyst inner cell mass were significantly more favorable than the control group (p=0.03); and concentration of 4 mg/ml of LC had a toxic effect on embryo development and blastocyst quality (p=0.00).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that LC may increase the number of blastocyst cells, which probably helps to expand the blastocyst and thinning of the ZP thickness and, therefore, creating a successful hatching for implantation.
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Nervous System Stem Cells, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran.
authors.forename: Nasrin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Khanmohammadi
authors.affiliation: Anatomical Sciences Department, Faculty of Medicine, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mansoureh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Movahedin
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Nervous System Stem Cells, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran.
authors.forename: Manouchehr
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Safari
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Nervous System Stem Cells, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid Reza
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Sameni
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Nervous System Stem Cells, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran.
authors.forename: Behpour
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yousefi
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Nervous System Stem Cells, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran.
authors.forename: Behnaz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jafari
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Nervous System Stem Cells, Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran.
authors.forename: Sam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zarbakhsh
keywords: Blastocyst inner cell mass; Embryo culture; L-carnitine; Zona pellucida