Summary
The effects of caffeine on meiosis of mouse ova in vitro and in vivo have been studied. Concentrations of 200 μg/cc or more suppressed entry of ova into in vitro meiosis without production of any numerical or structural abnormalities at dose levels above or below that. Acute superovulation by the standard technique was prevented at a dose of 0.25 mg/g/body weight and examination of the intrafollicular ova revealed presistence of the germinal vesicle stage. Chronic administration of the same dose (0.25 mg/g/bw) throughout the period from weaning to puberty did not induce any cytologically detectable meiotic abnormalities in ova studied in vitro at the end of that period. It is suggested that the reduced fertility seen by some previous authors may have been due to the suppression of entry into meiosis of the ova with diminished numbers of ova being ovulated.
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Communicated by Ch. Auerbach
Aided by a grant from The National Foundation — March of Dimes.
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Jagiello, G., Ducayen, M. & Lin, J.S. Meiosis suppression by caffeine in female mice. Molec. gen. Genet. 118, 209–214 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00333457
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00333457