Abstract
We have studied the effect of an elevated incubation temperature on the in vitro cleavage rate of one- and two-cell mouse embryos. Two-cell embryos demonstrated a significantly higher rate of cleavage when incubated at 39°C as compared to 37 or 41°C. When recovered at the onecell stage, the difference in cleavage rate between the groups incubated at 37 and 39°C did not reach significance. While the morphology of the embryos incubated at 37°C did not differ from that of the embryos incubated at 39°C in either group, a significantly higher rate of degeneration was noted in the group of two-cell embryos incubated at 41°C. These findings may apply to the human in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer system (IVF-ET), where the existing “lag” between embryo and endometrium could be narrowed if embryo cleavage rates could be accelerated. Further documentation of the normality of these “advanced” embryos is required.
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Lavy, G., Diamond, M.P., Pellicer, A. et al. The effect of the incubation temperature on the cleavage rate of mouse embryos in vitro. J Assist Reprod Genet 5, 167–170 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01131181
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01131181