Abstract Mineral oil (MO) as a barrier can minimize temperature, osmolality and pH fluctuation in the oocyte/embryo culture medium. Regardless of these advantages, MO acts as a potential source of embryo-toxic compounds which can affect embryo viability. This study was conducted to assess the signs and effects of the four-well culture dish (FW) and microdrop culture systems (MD) on reducing the harmful effects of mineral oil during the in-vitro production of sheep embryos. Oocytes retrieved from abattoir-derived ovary were in-vitro matured, fertilized and cultured in MD and FW, overlaid with two different lots of mouse embryo tested mineral oils (SMO1; nMD = 133, nFW = 103, and SMO2; nMD = 137, nFW = 144) and a clinically tested mineral oil (OMO; n = 107) as a control group. The results showed that using SMO1 and SMO2 in the MD can dramatically decrease cleavage and blastocyst rates. Although they did not show any membrane damage after IVM and 24 h after IVF, the sign of damage was appeared at 48 h after fertilization and completely destroyed the blastomere membrane at 72 h after fertilization, while the FW did not affect membrane integrity. In conclusion, FW compares to the MD, can reduce the deleterious effects of mineral oil on sheep embryos.

中文翻译：

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四孔培养皿降低矿物油毒性对羊胚胎生产的影响

摘要 矿物油 (MO) 作为屏障可以最大限度地降低卵母细胞/胚胎培养基中的温度、渗透压和 pH 值波动。尽管有这些优点，MO 还是可能影响胚胎活力的胚胎毒性化合物的潜在来源。本研究旨在评估四孔培养皿 (FW) 和微滴培养系统 (MD) 在减少矿物油在羊胚胎体外生产过程中的有害影响的迹象和效果。从屠宰场来源的卵巢中取出的卵母细胞在 MD 和 FW 中体外成熟、受精和培养，并覆盖有两种不同批次的小鼠胚胎测试矿物油（SMO1；nMD = 133、nFW = 103 和 SMO2；nMD = 137， nFW = 144）和临床测试的矿物油（OMO；n = 107）作为对照组。结果表明，在 MD 中使用 SMO1 和 SMO2 可以显着降低卵裂和囊胚率。尽管它们在 IVM 后和 IVF 后 24 小时未显示任何膜损伤，但在受精后 48 小时出现损伤迹象，并在受精后 72 小时完全破坏卵裂球膜，而 FW 不影响膜完整性。总之，FW与MD相比，可以减少矿物油对绵羊胚胎的有害影响。