Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Human recombinant leukemia inhibitory factor (rLIF) has been shown to stim ulate hatching of murine and ovine embryos in vitro. The temporal and dose-dependent effects of murine rLIF (mrLIF) and human rLIF (hrLIF) on embryo development in two different mouse strains were investigated in this work.
METHODS: Two-cell embryos were recovered from the fallopian tubes of superovulatedlmated females and cultured in Krebs medium plus bovine serum albumin in microdroplets under oil.
RESULTS: In the B 6CBF1 strain, mrLIF significantly stimulated blastocyst formation and decreased embryo fragmentation/degeneration when added simultaneously at the initiation of cul ture or 24 hours thereafter. Human rLIF also had a positive effect on development. In the CD1 strain (lower fecundity), mrLIF dose-dependent effects were observed, with enhanced develop mental stimulation achieved with higher doses.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings confirm that hrLIF stimulates mouse embryo development in vitro and that different mouse strains show distinct responses to the cytokine. In addition, mrLIF enhances blastocyst formation and decreases embryo fragmentation when added to the embryo culture as early as the two-cell stage. (J Soc Gynecol Invest 1994;1:215-9)
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