Abstract
Research question
Does single embryo culture under atmospheric or reduced oxygen alter preimplantation
metabolism and post-implantation development compared with culture in groups?
Design
Mouse embryos were cultured under 5% or 20% oxygen, individually or in groups of 10.
Spent media were analysed after 48, 72 and 96 h of culture. Blastocysts were assessed
by outgrowth assay or transferred to pseudo-pregnant recipients, and fetal and placental
weight, length and morphology were assessed.
Results
Compared with group culture, individually cultured blastocysts had lower net consumption
of glucose and aspartate and higher glutamate production. Atmospheric oxygen reduced
uptake of glucose and aspartate and increased production of glutamate and ornithine
compared with 5% oxygen. Combining 20% oxygen and single culture resulted in further
metabolic changes: decreased leucine, methionine and threonine consumption. Under
5% oxygen, individual culture decreased placental labyrinth area but had no other
effects on fetal and placental development or outgrowth size compared with group culture.
Under 20% oxygen, however, individual culture reduced outgrowth size and fetal and
placental weight compared with group-cultured embryos.
Conclusions
Preimplantation metabolism of glucose and amino acids is altered by both oxygen and
individual culture, and fetal weight is reduced by individual culture under atmospheric
oxygen but not 5% oxygen. This study raises concerns regarding the increasing prevalence
of single embryo culture in human IVF and adds to the existing evidence regarding
the detrimental effects of atmospheric oxygen during embryo culture. Furthermore,
these data demonstrate the cumulative nature of stress during embryo culture and highlight
the importance of optimizing each element of the culture system.
Keywords
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Biography
Rebecca Kelley completed her PhD with Professor David Gardner at The University of Melbourne. She has over 10 years’ experience in embryology research and her focus is on improving embryo culture conditions to achieve the best outcomes for infertile couples and IVF children.Key message
Blastocyst metabolism was altered by oxygen and individual culture, and fetal weight reduced by individual culture under atmospheric oxygen but not 5% oxygen. This raises concerns regarding the prevalence of individual culture, demonstrates that culture stresses are cumulative, and highlights the importance of optimizing each element of the culture system.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 11, 2019
Accepted:
March 6,
2019
Received in revised form:
January 30,
2019
Received:
December 3,
2018
Declaration: The authors report no financial or commercial conflicts of interest.Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Reproductive Healthcare Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
