Human Reproduction, Vol. 16, No. 4, 749-756,
April 2001
© 2001 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
Amino acids promote human blastocyst development in vitro
1 Scientific Collaborator at the Belgian National Funds for Scientific Research, 2 Clinic of Fertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Hospital Erasme, Route de Lennik 808, 1070 Brussels, 3 Laboratory for Biology and Psychology of Human Fertility, the Faculty of Medicine, Free University of Brussels, Belgium and 4 Department of Reproductive Science and Medicine, Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK
Supplementation of culture media with amino acids has been shown to benefit preimplantation embryo development in several species. This randomized study analysed the in-vitro development of human embryos obtained after IVF in the presence or absence of a combination of amino acids from the 2- to 4-cell stage to the blastocyst stage. A total of 129 human embryos was randomly distributed between three serum-free chemically defined sequential media: (i) glucose-free Earle's balanced salt solution (EBSS) with glutamine (Gln) prior to morula stage, supplemented with glucose for blastocyst formation; (ii) glucose-free EBSS with glutamine and non-essential amino acids (AA) for cleavage stage development, and supplemented with all 20 AA for blastocyst formation (Earle's+AA); and (iii) a sequential commercial medium containing amino acids (K-SCIM). Embryos were individually cultured for successive periods of 24 h. On day 6 of development, blastocysts were differentially labelled and the numbers of trophectoderm and inner cell mass cells, mitoses and dead cells were examined. Blastocyst development was similar for the three sequential media. The mixture of AA significantly increased total blastocyst cell numbers from 61.8 ± 4.2 with Earle's+Gln to 99.3 ± 8.4 with Earle's+AA and 100.2 ± 9.4 with K-SCIM (P = 0.005). This increase was present in both the trophectoderm and inner cell mass lineages (P < 0.02). Furthermore, the dead cell index was significantly lower with Earle's+AA (P = 0.047).
Key words: amino acids/cell death/cell numbers/human blastocyst
5 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Clinic of Fertility, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Hospital Erasme, Route de Lennik 808, 1070 Brussels, Belgium.
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