Influence of sorbitol accumulation on growth and development of embryos cultured in elevated levels of glucose and fructose.

Day-9 rat embryos, cultured for 48 hours in 67 mmol/l D-glucose, showed impaired growth, increased malformation rate and elevated concentration of sorbitol compared to embryos cultured in medium without additional glucose supplement. Supplementing the high-glucose cultures with an aldose reductase inhibitor markedly decreased the sorbitol levels without affecting the malformations or the retarded growth of the embryos. Since embryos cultured in 6.6 mmol/l D-fructose showed normal growth and morphology despite increased accumulation of sorbitol, this study suggests a dissociation between raised sorbitol levels and glucose-induced maldevelopment in rat embryos.