Fertilization and early embryology: Antioxidative capacity of preimplantation embryo culture medium declines following the incubation of poor quality embryos

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Abstract
Total antioxidative capacity (TAC), a measure of overall free-radical scavenging potential, was determined by enhanced chemiluminescence in preimplantation embryo culture medium (PECM; pre-equilibrated Ham's F-10 medium supplemented with 7.5% patient's serum). Changes were evaluated in PECM TAC following a 24 h incubation of 66 single human embryos, as was TAC of patient's serum alone. The PECM TAC averaged 8.1% of the same patient's blood serum TAC. The percentage decline of PECM TAC over an incubation period of 24 h ranged from 0.9 to 41.7%, with a median of 5.5%. The decline in PECM TAC in different embryo quality groups was also studied. Embryos were categorized as ‘good’, ‘fair’ or ‘poor’ according to a scoring system based on an assessment of both the morphological appearance and developmental speed of the embryos. Incubation of poor quality embryos was associated with a decline in TAC, which was significantly higher than that observed in ‘good’ and ‘fair’ embryos. The findings suggest that impaired embryo development may be associated with an increased generation of reactive oxygen species by the embryo.

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