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Succinate and malate improve development of hamster eight‐cell embryos in vitro: Confirmation of viability by embryo transfer
Author(s) -
Ain Rupasri,
Seshagiri Polani B.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
molecular reproduction and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.745
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1098-2795
pISSN - 1040-452X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-2795(199708)47:4<440::aid-mrd11>3.0.co;2-#
Subject(s) - blastocyst , glutamine , biology , embryo , hamster , in vitro , succinic acid , andrology , embryogenesis , metabolism , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , amino acid , medicine
The in vitro development of hamster preimplantation embryos is supported by non‐glucose energy substrates. To investigate the importance of embryonic metabolism, influence of succinate and malate on the development of hamster 8‐cell embryos to blastocysts was examined using a chemically defined protein‐free modified hamster embryo culture medium‐2 (HECM‐2m). There was a dose‐dependent influence of succinate on blastocyst development; 0.5 mM succinate was optimal (85.1% ± 3.9 vs. 54.5% ± 3.5). In succinate‐supplemented HECM‐2m, blastocyst development was reduced by omission of lactate (68.5% ± 7.2), but not pyruvate (85.8% ± 6.2) or glutamine (84.1% ± 2.1). Succinate along with either glutamine or lactate or pyruvate poorly supported blastocyst development (28%–58%). Malate also stimulated blastocyst development; 0.01 mM malate was optimal (86.3% ± 2.8). Supplementation of both succinate and malate to HECM‐2m supported maximal (100%) blastocyst development, which was inhibited 4‐fold by the addition of glucose/phosphate. The mean cell numbers (MCN) of blastocysts cultured in succinate‐supplemented HECM‐2m was higher (28.3 ± 1.1) than it was for those cultured in the absence of glutamine or pyruvate (range 20–24). The MCN was the highest (33.4 ± 1.6) for blastocysts cultured in succinate‐malate‐supplemented HECM‐2m followed by those in succinate (28.3 ± 1.1) or malate (24.7 ± 0.5) supplemented HECM‐2m. Embryo transfer experiments showed that 29.8% (±4.5) of transferred blastocysts cultured in succinate‐malate‐supplemented HECM‐2m produced live births, similar ( P > 0.1) to the control transfers of freshly recovered 8‐cells (33.5% ± 2.0) or blastocysts (28.9% ± 3.0). These data show that supplementation of succinate and malate to HECM‐2m supports 100% development of hamster 8‐cell embryos to high quality viable blastocysts and that non‐glucose oxidizable energy substrates are the most preferred components in hamster embryo culture medium. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 47:440–447, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.