Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Nov;33(11):1515-1523.
doi: 10.1007/s10815-016-0790-5. Epub 2016 Aug 20.

Maternal obesity in mice not only affects fresh embryo quality but also aggravates injury due to vitrification

Wenhong Ma  1 , Xingfang Huang  2 , Xing Yang  2 , Xiaoyan Liang  3
Affiliations

Maternal obesity in mice not only affects fresh embryo quality but also aggravates injury due to vitrification

Wenhong Ma et al. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2016 Nov.

Abstract

Purpose: The aims of the present study are to identify the mechanism(s) whereby obesity impairs fresh embryos and to clarify the effects of vitrification on lipid droplet content within embryos from maternally obese mice.

Methods: The diet-induced obesity mouse model was established, and the zygotes were captured and cultured to day 3. The eight-cell embryos were selected and divided into fresh and vitrified groups. The blastocysts derived from fresh embryos were used as a control. The expression profiles of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress genes (Atf4, Grp78, and Hsp70) and other genes (MnSOD, p53, Gadd45g, caspase-3, IGF-II, ZO-1, and E-cadherin) on day-3 fresh and post-warming eight-cell embryos from obese and control groups were determined. For day-5 fresh blastocysts and blastocysts previously vitrified on day 3, the expression profiles for all of the above genes were also determined.

Results: For the fresh group, obesity significantly upregulated Hsp70, p53, IGF-II, and ZO-1 expression in embryos on day 3 and notably upregulated Atf4, MnSOD, Gadd45g, caspase-3, ZO-1, and E-cadherin expression in blastocysts on day 5. For vitrified ones, obesity significantly upregulated Atf4, MnSOD, and Gadd45g expression in embryos on day 3 and notably upregulated Hsp70 expression and downregulated MnSOD in day 5 blastocysts previously vitrified on day 3.

Conclusions: Obesity impairs fresh embryos and aggravates embryonic vitrification injury at a molecular level.

Keywords: Blastocyst; Embryo; Obesity; Vitrification injury.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Compliance with ethical standards Funding This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant nos. 81100401 and 81470063) and the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong province (Grant no. 2014A030313129). Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. Ethical approval All applicable institutional, national, and/or international guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
A schematic of the experimental design
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Relative mRNA expression in day-3 embryos and day-5 blastocysts. Relative mRNA expression as determined by RT-PCR of various gene transcripts in day-3 fresh and 3-h post-warming eight-cell embryos. Values are mean ± SD expressed as fold change compared with the (fresh) control group. n = 3 pools of embryos per group. Different superscript letters indicate significant differences by one-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey’s post hoc test; P < 0.05
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Relative mRNA expression in day-5 blastocysts. Relative mRNA expression as determined by RT-PCR of various gene transcripts in fresh day-5 blastocysts and blastocysts that were previously vitrified on day 3 from control and obese mice. Values are mean ± SD expressed as fold change compared with the (fresh) control group. n = 3 pools of embryos per group. Different superscript letters indicate significant differences by one-way ANOVA, followed by Tukey’s post hoc test; P < 0.05
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Souter I, Baltagi LM, Kuleta D, Meeker JD, Petrozza JC. Women, weight, and fertility: the effect of body mass index on the outcome of superovulation/intrauterine insemination cycles. Fertil Steril. 2011;95(3):1042–1047. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2010.11.062. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dickey RP, Xiong X, Gee RE, Pridjian G. Effect of maternal height and weight on risk of preterm birth in singleton and twin births resulting from in vitro fertilization: a retrospective cohort study using the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology Clinic Outcome Reporting System. Fertil Steril. 2012;97(2):349–354. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2011.11.017. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Luke B, Brown MB, Missmer SA, Bukulmez O, Leach R, Stern JE. The effect of increasing obesity on the response to and outcome of assisted reproductive technology: a national study. Fertil Steril. 2011;96(4):820–825. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2011.07.1100. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fedorcsak P, Dale PO, Storeng R, et al. Impact of overweight and underweight on assisted reproduction treatment. Hum Reprod. 2004;19(11):2523–2528. doi: 10.1093/humrep/deh485. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lashen H, Fear K, Sturdee DW. Obesity is associated with increased risk of first trimester and recurrent miscarriage: matched case-control study. Hum Reprod. 2004;19(7):1644–1646. doi: 10.1093/humrep/deh277. - DOI - PubMed
-