Morphological and morphometric study of early-cleavage mice embryos resulting from in vitro fertilization at different cleavage stages after vitrification

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the possible morphological and morphometric changes resulting from vitrification of embryos at the cleavage stage. In this study, 30 mice early-cleavage embryos at different stages of cleavage, resulting from in vitro fertilization (IVF) techniques, were examined before and after vitrification. Digital images were taken from embryos before and after vitrification. Zona pellucida thickness, differences in zona pellucida thickness, and diameter and volume of blastomeres and embryos as morphometric parameters and current rating of appearance of embryos as morphological parameters, have been studied. According to our findings, there were significant mean differences in all morphometric parameters of the two groups except in the zona pellucid thickness (P≤0.05). With regard to the morphological parameter, the decrease in embryo quality was observed but it was not significant. According to the results, although little quantitative change observed is not necessarily synonymous with harmful intracellular damage, it seems that it is better to examine vitrification method more accurately. Because by making subtle changes in concentration and type of consumed solutions or techniques used, the changes may be minimized.