Summary. One-cell CF-1 \m=x\ B6SJLF1/J embryos, which usually exhibit a 2-cell block to development in vitro, have been cultured to the blastocyst stage using CZB medium and a glucose washing procedure. CZB medium is a further modification of modified BMOC-2 containing an increased lactate/pyruvate ratio of 116, 1 mM-glutamine and 0\m=.\1mM-EDTA but lacking glucose. Continuous culture of one-cell embryos in CZB medium allowed 83% of embryos to develop beyond the 2-cell stage of which 63% were morulae at 72 h of culture, but blastocysts did not develop. However, washing embryos into CZB medium containing glucose after 48 h of culture (3-4-cell stage) was sufficient to allow development to proceed, with 48% of embryos reaching the blastocyst stage by 96 h of culture. Exposure of embryos to glucose was only necessary from the 3\p=n-\4-cell stage through the early morula stage since washing back into medium CZB without glucose at 72 h of culture still promoted the development of 50% of embryos to the blastocyst stage. The presence of glucose in this medium for the first 48 h of culture (1-cell to 4-cell stage) was detrimental to embryo development. Glutamine, however, exerted a beneficial effect on embryo development from the 1-cell to the 4-cell stage although its presence was not required for development to proceed during the final 48 h of culture. Blastocysts which developed under optimum conditions contained an average of 33\m=.\7total cells. The in-vitro development of 1-cell embryos beyond the 2-cell stage in response to the removal of glucose and the addition of glutamine to the culture medium suggests that glucose may block some essential metabolic process, and that glutamine may be a preferred energy substrate during early development for these mouse embryos.

Oxygen tension was measured using flexible polarographic microelectrodes within the oviductal and uterine lumen in rhesus monkeys (n = 9), golden hamsters (n = 21) and rabbits (n = 6), during the reproductive cycle (monkey), during oestrus and pseudopregnancy (hamsters, rabbits)

No abstract

Male pronuclear (MPN) formation in oocytes after in vitro maturation (IVM) was compared with that of matured follicular oocytes that had matured in vivo (controls). Cumulus-oocyte complexes were matured in vitro for 13 h in modified Tyrode's solution (TLP-PVA); cumulus-free oocytes were then incubated in 20% oviductal fluid for 3 h, and washed and capacitated spermatozoa were added. MPN formation was significantly lower (P < 0.05) in IVM oocytes 3 to 12 h after insemination (0 to 34%, respectively) than in control oocytes (range, 98-100%). Female pronuclear formation was 84-100% in controls and IVM oocytes, but spermatozoa incompletely decondensed in IVM oocytes. The addition of 10 mumol l-1 during IVM, significantly increased (P < 0.05) MPN formation (from 17% in the absence of cysteine to 47% in the presence of cysteine), but was lower than that in controls (88%). During IVM, the addition of 10% serum or gonadotrophins (FSH and LH) with or without amino acids did not support MPN formation without cysteamine, whereas the treatment with gonadotrophins and 11 amino acids plus 200 mumol cysteamine l-1 (82%) equalled controls (92%). Development of oocytes after IVM (in 0, 10, 20% serum) in TLP-PVA, gonadotrophins, 11 amino acids and 200 mumol cysteamine l-1 was compared with development in controls. Of the IVM treatments, 20% serum was inferior at fertilization, but yielded the highest percentage of fertilized oocytes developing to or beyond the four-cell stage (20% serum versus controls, respectively); fertilized oocytes, 75% versus 88%; > or = four-cell embryo, 40% versus 53%; blastocyst, 8% versus 14%. It was concluded that during IVM, gonadotrophins plus 11 amino acids interacted with cysteamine, enhancing the decondensation of spermatozoa and MPN formation; oocytes matured in this medium with 20% serum were fertilized and some developed to the blastocyst stage.

Effects of amino acids on early bovine embryo development in vitro were examined using a chemically-defined, protein-free culture medium. Bovine embryos produced in vitro were cultured from 18 h to 72 h post insemination in a simple medium containing lactate as the only energy source except for the amino acid treatments. Subsequently, embryos were transferred to TCM-199 supplemented with serum for blastocyst development to substantiate their developmental competence. Treatments were: (1) non-essential amino acids from TCM-199 (NEA); (2) essential amino acids from TCM-199 (EA); (3) NEA+EA; (4) Eagle's minimum essential medium amino acids (MEM AA); (5) 11 amino acids present in HECM-6 (11 AA); and (6) 0.2 mM glutamine (GLN). A higher proportion of embryos (percentage of inseminated ova) cleaved to the > or = 8-cell stage by 72 h post insemination in NEA (56.7%), EA (41.2%), 11 AA (40.3%) and GLN (51.1%) than in either NEA+EA (30.0%) or MEM AA (33.1%). However, after transfer to complex medium, embryos that had developed in EA, as well as those in MEM AA or NEA+EA, produced significantly fewer blastocysts (37.1%, 34.4% and 25.6% respectively) than those in NEA (56.7%), GLN (48.9%) or 11 AA (37.7%). The ability of blastocysts to hatch from their zonae pellucidae was also affected by amino acid treatment during cleavage stages. The present study indicated that the addition of NEA or GLN or 11 AA to a chemically-defined culture medium during the cleavage phase of bovine embryo development increases their subsequent ability to reach the blastocyst stage. These data have implications for understanding the nutritional needs of bovine embryos produced in vitro and for optimizing the composition of culture media to support their development.