Maternal selenium-supplementation at various stages of periconception period: influence on murine blastocyst morphology and implantation status

Abstract

BackgroundSelenium is one of the trace minerals whose deficiency is known to lead to complications of female reproduction. The identified gaps in researches regarding selenium and pregnancy include optimizing the dosage of selenium supplementation, timing of supplementation, finding the best form and type of selenium, and selenium administration combined with other antioxidants. Hence, this study was conceptualized to address one of the identified gaps, that is, to find out the best timing of selenium administration around the time of pregnancy. Specifically, this study aimed to assess the effects of maternal Selenium-supplementation, administered at various stages of periconception period, on murine blastocyst morphology, percent occurrence of good quality blastocysts, and implantation status.MethodsICR female mice were randomly assigned into the unsupplemented group (Group I) receiving basal diet without selenium, and treatment groups given with 3.0 μg selenium-supplement per day during pregestation only (Group II), pregestation-throughout-gestation (Group III) and gestation only (Group IV). Both blastocyst morphology and implantation status were assessed.ResultsThe morphometric measurements of blastocysts appeared to be unaffected by selenium-supplementation at different stages of periconception. Selenium-supplementation at pregestation only (Group II) and gestation only (Group IV) produced higher percent occurrence of good quality blastocysts and lower percent pre-implantation loss than Group III. Among all the treatment groups, Group III (Selenium-supplementation during pregestation-to-gestation) yielded the lowest quality blastocysts and highest percent pre-implantation loss.ConclusionMaternal selenium-supplementation during pregestation and gestation stages of the periconception period yielded a high percent occurrence of good quality blastocysts and pre-implantation success.

Dietary Selenium Supplementation Ameliorates Female Reproductive Efficiency in Aging Mice

“…Same group also reported an increased in vitro developmental potential of vitrified mouse preantral follicles following Se supplementation in in vitro culture media [86]. At the same time, pre-gestational and gestational maternal Se supplementation (3.0 µg/day) significantly improved the blastocyst rate and pre-implantation success in ICR mice [50]. Although the literature on the effect of Se on improving the in vitro development potential of oocytes and embryos in aging females is lacking, researchers have shown that other antioxidants such as resveratrol, MT, and NAC can significantly ameliorate the oocyte quality and embryo development in aging mouse models [4,6,8].…”

“…It was shown that Se was implicated in regulating the physiology of uterine smooth muscles potentially via modulating the expression of Selenon, Selenot, and Selenow [41,42], and the G protein Rho (RhoA)/Rho kinase (ROCK) signaling pathway in mice [43]. However, only recently have researchers paid attention to potential role of Se in ovarian physiology and embryo development [9,28,[44][45][46][47][48][49][50]. Interestingly, when exploring the mainstream literature, with the exclusion of one study reporting the beneficial effects of Se supplementation on sperm parameters in aging mice [51], no study has yet elucidated how Se might ameliorate the reproductive function in aging mammalian models, let alone the aged females.…”

Selenium, Selenoproteins, and Female Reproduction: A Review

“…Nevertheless, the recommendations prevail for increased Se intake during the gestation period [120]. Moreover, the best timing of Se supplementation during pregnancy is one of the well identified gaps amongst the studies concerning the role of Se on reproductive health; therefore, hitherto it is currently unclear what exactly should be the optimum timing of Se supplementation [121]. The scarcity of such key information pertaining to Se is by and large endorsed by other reports encouraging further elucidation with regard to the potential impact of appropriate timings of trace element supplementation on pregnancy results [122,123].…”

“…The scarcity of such key information pertaining to Se is by and large endorsed by other reports encouraging further elucidation with regard to the potential impact of appropriate timings of trace element supplementation on pregnancy results [122,123]. In 2017, Mamon and Ramos conducted a study to figure out the optimal timing of Se supplementation (3.0 μg per day) during pregnancy at different stages of the peri-conception period in a murine model [121]. Improved quality of blastocysts and reduced pre-implantation loss was observed in pre-gestation only and gestation only supplementation groups compared to the control and pre-gestation-to-gestation supplementation groups [121].…”

Oxidative Stress as Cause, Consequence, or Biomarker of Altered Female Reproduction and Development in the Space Environment

“…Further, polymorphisms in enzymatic antioxidants, as well as deficiency in selenium, have been associated with an increased risk of miscarriage [117,118,119,120,121,122]. Small studies have revealed that periconception selenium supplementation may decrease miscarriage rate in animal studies [123], and antioxidant supplementation with N -acetyl cysteine has improved the likelihood of successful human pregnancy following recurrent pregnancy loss [124].…”