TREATMENT WITH MELATONIN ENHANCES THE EMBRYO QUALITY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF VITRIFIED/WARMED EIGHT CELL MOUSE EMBRYOS BY SOLID SURFACE VITRIFICATION (SSV)

BACKGROUND: Melatonin is an endocrine hormone secreted from the pineal gland located outside the blood-brain barrier. OBJECTIVE: In this study, in vitro propagated eight-cell mouse embryos were vitrified by the Solid Surface Vitrification (SSV) method and after thawing, their in vitro development and embryo qualities in melatonin added media were investigated. METHODS: Pronuclear stage embryos obtained from super ovulated B6CBAF1/J strain mice, were cultured until the eight-cell stage. Then these eight-cell embryos were vitrified by the SSV method and after thawing, cultured in melatonin added media at 37 degrees C and 5 %CO2 conditions until the blastocyst stage. RESULT: In the experimental period, in vitro embryo development rates of the control, SSV and +10(-12) M melatonin groups were observed as 97%, 86% and 93%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our results indicated that melatonin addition slightly increased the development rates and total cell numbers of embryos vitrified by the SSV method.