Effect of the addition of 4OHE

Abstract

Aims The main objective of this work is to elucidate whether Quercetin (Qc) and 4-Hidroxistradiol (4OHE2) decrease the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in in vitro obtained embryos and to analyse which genes are activated under the treatments that could explain this improvement. Methods Oxidative stress was induced during embryo culture by H2O2 treatment and ROS production was measured and compared with embryos treated with Qc or 4OHE2. Gene expression was analysed by Q-PCR in control embryos obtained in utero (IU) or by IVF and compared with the levels found in embryos cultured with Qc or 4OHE2 to determine the effect of these compounds. Key results Qc strongly reduces ROS levels in embryos after a treatment of 4 h. On the contrary, 4OHE2 had no effect in reducing ROS levels in embryos. The addition of these molecules to the culture media upregulate several hypoxia-related genes when Qc is added to the culture media, and implantation-related genes when 4OHE2 is used. Conclusions Qc is a very strong antioxidant molecule that when used for short periods of time during culture can reduce ROS levels and improve embryo quality by activating antioxidant enzymes. 4OHE2 supplementation, despite having no effects in reducing ROS levels, acts directly in the molecular signalling implicated in the implantation process and could be also considered as a supplement for embryo culture during IVF. Implications Proper supplementation of the culture media could greatly improve the quality of embryos cultured in vitro, resulting in better results in IVF clinics.