Effect of cryotop vitrification on preimplantation developmental competence of murine morula and blastocyst stage embryos

Ling, Xiu Feng; Zhang, Jun Qiang; Cao, Shan Ren; Chen, Jie; Peng, Yuzhu; Guo, Xirong; Heng, Boon Chin; Tong, Guo Qing; Wang, Xinru

doi:10.1016/j.rbmo.2009.09.006

« Previous Next »Reproductive BioMedicine Online
Volume 19, Issue 5 , Pages 708-713, November 2009

Effect of cryotop vitrification on preimplantation developmental competence of murine morula and blastocyst stage embryos

Xiu Feng Ling
- Department of Reproduction, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210004, PR China
Jun Qiang Zhang
- Department of Reproduction, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210004, PR China
Shan Ren Cao
- Department of Reproduction, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210004, PR China
Jie Chen
- Department of Reproduction, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210004, PR China
Yuzhu Peng
- Department of Reproduction, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210004, PR China
Xirong Guo
- Department of Paediatrics, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210004, PR China
Boon Chin Heng
- Ivymed International, #03–02a, Serangoon Plaza, 320 Serangoon Road, Singapore 218108, Singapore
Guo Qing Tong
- Department of Reproduction, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210004, PR China
Xinru Wang
- Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Institute of Toxiocology, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210004, PR China
- Correspondence.

Received 24 February 2009; received in revised form 10 March 2009; accepted 13 July 2009. published online 02 August 2010.

Declaration: The authors report no financial or commercial conflicts of interest.

Abstract

Vitrification is an effective method for the cryopreservation of mammalian embryos. Nevertheless, it is unclear which embryonic developmental stage is the most suited for vitrification and would ensure maximal developmental competence upon subsequent warming. This study, therefore, compared the effects of cryotop vitrification on the developmental competence of murine morula and blastocyst stage embryos. Additionally, trophectoderm (TE) and inner cell mass (ICM) cell numbers were compared in two hatched blastocyst groups derived from vitrified morulae and blastocysts, respectively. The post-vitrification survival rates for mouse embryos at the morula and blastocyst stage were 95.4% (186/195) and 96.5% (195/202), respectively. The blastocyst formation rate was significantly lower for vitrified morulae (90.3%) compared with the non-vitrified control group (98.4%) (P<0.05). The hatching rates were similar between the vitrified morula (79.6%) and the vitrified blastocyst (81.0%) groups. When further development to the fully hatched blastocyst stage was compared, fully hatched blastocysts derived from vitrified morulae had significantly higher cell counts for both the ICM and TE lineage, as compared with hatched blastocysts derived from vitrified blastocysts (P<0.001). Cryotop vitrification of mouse embryos at the morula stage rather than blastocyst stage would thus ensure a higher degree of post-warming developmental competence.

Keywords: blastocyst, development, morula, preimplantation, vitrification

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Dr Xinru Wang, honorary professor of toxicology of reproductive medicine, is the Director of the Institute of Toxicology and Vice President of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China. He is the recipient of the awards of National Great Master in Teaching and the Outstanding Scientific and Technological Worker of Jiangsu Province. His research interest is the toxicology of reproduction and endocrinology.