Higher sodium chloride concentration can induce a four-cell block in porcine embryos

Low Salt Maturation Medium Enhances the Histone H1 Kinase Activity of Porcine Oocytes at the End of In Vitro Maturation.

“…The results of glutathione content are consistent with our previous studies [12]. Detrimental effects of elevated concentrations of salts in culture media have also been reported in the culture of preimplantation mouse [21][22][23][24][25] and porcine embryos [26,27] to the blastocyst stage. In a previous report [12], we also observed that high salt maturation media detrimentally affect perivitelline space formation and oocyte glutathione content after in vitro maturation as well as the incidence of polyspermy and male pronuclear formation following in vitro fertilization.…”

Use of Low-Salt Culture Medium for in Vitro Maturation of Porcine Oocytes is Associated with Elevated Oocyte Glutathione Levels and Enhanced Male Pronuclear Formation after in Vitro Fertilization1

“…Furthermore, it has also been reported that use of low salt culture medium was effective for mouse [16][17][18][19]40] and porcine embryos [20,21] in overcoming the in vitro developmental arrest, the so-called cell-block. Takahashi et al [41] recently suggested that supplementation of the medium with 3-mercaptoethanol or cysteamine increased both the intracellular content of glutathione in bovine embryos and the number of embryos overcoming the in vitro developmental arrest.…”

“…A noticeable difference between these media, in addition to the presence or absence of vitamins and amino acids, is the concentration of sodium chloride (NaCl; 68.49 mM in Whitten's medium vs. 116.40 mM in Medium 199). In recent culture experiments with mouse [16][17][18][19] and porcine zygotes [20,21], detrimental effects of high NaCl concentration in the culture medium on developmental ability of the embryos have also been reported. Therefore, detrimental effects of a high NaC1 concentration in the culture medium may lead to insufficient cytoplasmic maturation of porcine oocytes as typified by a low incidence of monospermic penetration and male pronuclear formation.…”