title: Effect of Antioxidants (β-mercaptoethanol and Cysteamine) on Assisted Reproductive Technology In vitro.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Oocyte Culture of Germinal Vesicle (GV) and its growth improves Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) invitro and infertility. Inappropriate culture medium environment, low quality of oocytes, increase in Oxidative Stress (OS) events, Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) and free radicals production are the main factors that result in unsuccessful Invitro Maturation (IVM) and decrease in reproduction.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The present study was conducted with the aim to evaluate the effect of β-mercaptoethanol (BME) and Cysteamine (CYS) on IVM improvement, embryo fertilization and development of blastocyst of mouse immature oocyte.
  
  
  METHODS
  Oocytes were obtained from 4-6 weeks old Naval Medical Research Institute (NMRI) female mice, 48 hours after stimulation with Intraperitoneal (IP) injection of 10 IU Pregnant Mare Serum Gonadotropin (PMSG). GV oocyte with and without cumulus cells were isolated from ovaries and cultured in Tissue Culture Medium (TCM) 199 with availability of 100 μM of antioxidants (BME and CYS). After 24 hours, mature oocyte in metaphase II (MII) were fertilized with sperm in In vitro Fertilization (IVF) medium (T6) and evaluated for fetal development into blastocyst.
  
  
  RESULTS
  BME and CYS could significantly (p<0.05) increase the rate of IVM and oocyte evolution, and embryo formation in medium culture. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that existence of Cumulus Oocyte Complexes (COC) significantly showed better IVM, fertilization and evolution trend as compared to oocytes without cumulus cover or Denuded Oocytes (DO), especially in TCM199 plus BME and CYS. So that the change in GV stage oocytes to MII (maturation rate), fertilization rates or 2PN formation, and two cell embryos formation or blastocyst development rate in the treatment group with addition of BME & CYS and COC was statistically significant as compared to the DO group (p-value < 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both cellular and environmental factors could be important and involved in ART improvement.
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Yasuj University of Medical Sciences , Yasuj, Iran .
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nikseresht
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Yasuj University of Medical Sciences , Yasuj, Iran .
authors.forename: Mehdi Akbartabar
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Toori
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Toxicology and Pharmacology, Pharmaceutics Research Center, Institute of Neuropharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Kerman University of Medical Sciences , Kerman, Iran .
authors.forename: Hamid Reza
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Rahimi
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Yasuj University of Medical Sciences , Yasuj, Iran .
authors.forename: Ali Reza
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Fallahzadeh
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences , Tehran, Iran .
authors.forename: Iraj Ragerdi
authors.initials: IR
authors.lastname: Kahshani
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Yasuj University of Medical Sciences , Yasuj, Iran .
authors.forename: Seyedeh Fatemeh
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Hashemi
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Yasuj University of Medical Sciences , Yasuj, Iran .
authors.forename: Solmaz
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bahrami
authors.affiliation: Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Yasuj University of Medical Sciences , Yasuj, Iran .
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mahmoudi
keywords: Cumulus oocyte complexes; Infertility; Oxidative stress; Reactive oxygen species