Abstract
Introduction: This study was aimed to preliminarily examine the effect of laser-assisted three area zona thinning (LAZT) during the cleavage stage of embryo development and the hatching process in mice based on female age. Materials and Methods: C57BL female mice of two different age groups (6-11 and 28-31 weeks) were superovulated and then mated. The 8-cell stage embryos were treated with LAZT in three areas of zona pellucida (ZP) at 120º intervals. The control group was embryos without LAZT. Results: In old mice, LAZT significantly increased blastocyst formation and hatching compared to the control group (82% vs. 38% in number of expanding blastocyst and 66% vs. 20% in number of hatching blastocyst). Conclusion: These results show that multi-area LAZT results in a significant improvement of blastocyst formation and hatching in mice compared to controls.
Highlights
Over the last 40 years, much research has been aimed towards the improvement of implantation potential regarding preimplantation stage embryos in in vitro fertilizationembryo transfer (IVF-ET)
This study aimed to examine the effect of laser-assisted three areas zona thinning (LAZT) during the cleavage stage on embryo development and the hatching process in mice based on age
In young mice (6-11 weeks old), laser-assisted three area zona thinning (LAZT) had no effect on blastocyst formation rate (92.0%), but promoted a significant increase in hatching rate (76.0%) compared to the control group (84.0% and 36.0%, respectively) (p < 0.05) (Table 1)
Summary
Over the last 40 years, much research has been aimed towards the improvement of implantation potential regarding preimplantation stage embryos in in vitro fertilizationembryo transfer (IVF-ET). One breakthrough in this field came with the development of a technique known as assisted hatching (AH). AH helps this hatching process and induces embryo implantation as an artificial rupture technique of the ZP. AH is performed by thinning or opening ZP by mechanical [5] or chemical methods [6]. These methods are technically inconvenient, and pose the risk of embryo damage. AH using lasers was the most popular method because laser AH (LAH) is simple and rapid [7]
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