IMPACT OF ERYTHROCYTES ON MOUSE EMBRYONAL DEVELOPMENT IN-VITRO

To elucidate the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the developm ent of mouse embryo, effects of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase a nd erythrocytes were studied in vitro, Oocytes were fertilized and 2-c ell-cleaved embryos were cultured in the presence or absence of either erythrocytes, SOD or catalase, Under standard culture conditions, the fertilization acid cleavage rates were 77.4 and 12.5%, respectively, In the presence of xanthine and xanthine oxidase, those rates decrease d to 28.2 and 4.5%, respectively, The hazardous effect of ROS was comp letely inhibited by erythrocytes. These results suggested that small a mounts of erythrocytes might effectively degrade ROS during the develo pment of cultured embryos.