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Hum. Reprod. Advance Access published online on June 25, 2008
Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/humrep/den187
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Erythrocytes counteract the negative effects of female ageing on mouse preimplantation embryo development and blastocyst formation

Rie Fukuhara1, Shunsaku Fujii, Rika Nakamura, Ei Yuzawa, Hidetaka Kimura, Atsushi Fukui and Hideki Mizunuma

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hirosaki University School of Medicine, 5 Zaifu-cho, Hirosaki, Aomori 036-8562, Japan

1 Correspondence address. E-mail: fukuhara{at}cc.hirosaki-u.ac.jp

BACKGROUND: The low developmental competence of embryos from ageing females remains an enigma; it is presumably attributable to oxidative stress. A number of antioxidant mechanisms exist in the erythrocyte and these have been investigated in other cells and tissues. However, very few studies have reported the effects of erythrocyte supplementation on developmental competence in ageing embryos.

METHODS: In Experiment 1, IVF embryos from young (7–10 weeks) mice were cultured in medium supplemented with an oxidizing agent, hypoxanthine/xanthine oxidase, in the presence and absence of erythrocytes. In Experiment 2, the development of embryos derived from young and ageing (40–50 weeks) female mice was assessed in the presence and absence of erythrocytes.

RESULTS: In Experiment 1, the presence of hypoxanthine/xanthine oxidase significantly inhibited embryo development (P < 0.0001). Erythrocyte supplementation clearly overcame the detrimental effects in a dose-related manner. In Experiment 2, in the absence of erythrocytes, developmental competence was significantly lower in embryos from ageing females than in those from young females (P < 0.01). However, in ageing females, the supplementation of erythrocytes significantly promoted the development of embryos to the blastocyst stage (51.1% versus 77.3%; P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS: Supplementation with erythrocytes can counteract the negative effect of maternal ageing on embryo development and blastocyst formation.

Key words: ageing/antioxidant/embryo/erythrocyte/reactive oxygen species

Submitted on December 2, 2006; resubmitted on April 15, 2008; accepted on April 21, 2008.


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