Evaluation of a synthetic serum substitute to replace fetal cord serum for human oocyte fertilization and embryo growth in vitro.

A comparison was made between a serum substitute. UltroSer G (Gibco, Ghent, Belgium) (2%) (medium B) and 10% human fetal cord serum (medium A), as regards their ability to support 1-cell and 2-cell mice embryo development in vitro. Sixty percent and 56% of the 1-cell embryos reached the expanded blastocyst stage when cultured in media A and B, respectively. Eighty-four percent and 88% of 2-cell embryos reached the expanded blastocyst stage when cultured in media A and B, respectively. A prospective randomized study was then performed to evaluate this synthetic serum substitute in human in vitro fertilization. Among 141 ovum pick-up (OPU), oocytes retrieved in 74 cases were processed in medium A and oocytes retrieved in 67 others in medium B. In media A and B, the fertilization rate was 67% and 44.3% respectively, and the pregnancy rate/OPU 23% and 9%, respectively. The pregnancy rate/transfer was 28.8% and 12.2% respectively, and the implantation rate/transferred embryo 9.5% and 4.2%. In the human sperm survival assay, the vitality and residual motility after 24 hours of incubation were significantly lower in medium B. In conclusion, UltroSer G successfully sustained the development in vitro of mouse embyros. However in human, it reduced sperm survival, oocyte fertilization, and embryo viability.