Developmental potential of embryos produced by in-vitro fertilization from gonadotrophin-releasing hormone antagonist-treated macaques stimulated with recombinant human follicle stimulating hormone alone or in combination with luteinizing hormone

• Published in: Human reproduction (Oxford) 1996-03, Vol.11 (3), p.608-613
• Main Authors: Weston, A.M., Zelinski-Wooten, M.B., Hutchison, J.S., Stouffer, R.L., WoIf, D.P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Birth control; Cell Culture Techniques; Cryopreservation; Embryo Transfer; Embryonic and Fetal Development - drug effects; embryonic development; Female; Fertilization in Vitro; Follicle Stimulating Hormone - administration & dosage; Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone - antagonists & inhibitors; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Hormone Antagonists - pharmacology; Humans; Luteinizing Hormone - administration & dosage; Luteinizing Hormone - deficiency; Macaca mulatta; Male; Medical sciences; Oligopeptides - pharmacology; Ovulation Induction - methods; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Outcome; Rats; recombinant human gonadotrophins; rhesus monkey; Sterility. Assisted procreation
• ISSN: 0268-1161; 1460-2350
• DOI: 10.1093/HUMREP/11.3.608

We previously demonstrated, in luteinizing hormone (LH)-deficient macaques, that follicular growth and maturation occurred with administration of exogenous (recombinant human) follicle stimulating hormone (r-hFSH) alone, and that the oocytes recovered fertilized at a notably higher rate than their counterparts from animals receiving both r-hFSH and r-hLH (Zelinski-Wooten et al., 1995). Here, the developmental potential of embryos produced from animals treated with r-hFSH alone or in combination with r-hLH was evaluated. Embryos (n = 127) were cryopreserved, thawed and either co-cultured on buffalo rat liver cells until the hatched blastocyst stage or transferred to synchronized recipients. Although embryos from each treatment group demonstrated a similar ability to develop to hatched blastocysts with a definitive inner cell mass, a significant difference was seen in cryosurvival (56 versus 78%) and in developmental rate to the hatched blastocyst (12 versus 10 days) between embryos from the r-hFSH alone and the combination group respectively. Pregnancies resulted following oviductal embryo transfers in both groups, with corpus luteum rescue occurring on days 12–16 of the luteal phase. In summary, r-hFSH alone during the pre-ovulatory interval is adequate for the gametogenic events required to produce embryos that develop either in vitro or in vivo; however, exposure to r-hLH may improve embryo viability and the rate of development.