Are Early Embryo Cleavage Kinetics Affected by Energy Substrates in Different Culture Media?

Objective This study aimed to investigate the influence of different culture media on early embryonic cleavage kinetics using time-lapse analysis and to determine the possible relationships between energy substrates in culture media and the cleavage kinetics.Methods A total of 10021 embryos from 1310 couples were cultured in time-lapse incubators.Embryos cultured in Vitrolife media were allocated to group I,and those in COOK media to group II.Embryo cleavage time points up to the 8-cell stage(t2–t8)were observed after pronuclei fading.Results The baseline demographic features,in vitro fertilization indications,ovarian stimulation protocol,oocyte-cumulus complexes,fertilization rate,together with pregnancy and perinatal outcomes were similar(P>0.05)between groups I and II.According to the time-lapse analysis,all embryos in group I showed significantly faster cleavage speed than those in group II(P<0.05).Furthermore,there was better synchrony in division(s3)and a longer length of the third cell cycle duration(cc3)in group II.Interestingly,implanted embryos in group II showed faster cleavage speed than those in group I,especially at t4 and t7.The glucose contents and multiple major amino acids were similar between the two groups.Lactic and pyruvic acid contents were generally higher in group I than those in group II.Conclusion Because different commercial culture media may influence cleavage kinetics of embryos,it is essential for embryologists to take culture media into consideration in selecting a potential embryo when using a time-lapse system before implantation.

Cardiac energy metabolism disorder mediated by energy substrate imbalance and mitochondrial damage upon tebuconazole exposure

Tebuconazole exposure has been described as an increasing hazard to human health.An increasing number of recent studies have shown a positive association between tebuconazole exposure and cardiovascular disease risk,which is characterized by the reduction of adenosine triphosphate(ATP)synthesis.However,researches on the damage of tebuconazole exposure to energy metabolism and the related molecular mechanisms are limited.In the present study,male C57BL/6 mice were treated with tebuconazole at different low concentrations for 4 weeks.The results indicated that tebuconazole could accumulate in the heart and further induce the decrease of ATP content in the mouse heart.Importantly,tebuconazole induced an obvious shift in substrate utilization of fatty acid and glucose by disrupting their corresponding transporters(GLUT1,GLUT4,CD36,FABP3 and FATP1)expression,and significantly repressed the expression of mitochondrial biogenesis(Gabpa and Tfam)and oxidative phosphorylation(CS,Ndufa4,Sdhb,Cox5a and Atp5b)related genes in a dosedependent manner.Further investigation revealed that these alterations were related to the IRS1/AKT and PPARγ/RXRαpathways.These findings contribute to a better understanding of triazole fungicide-induced cardiovascular disease by revealing the key indicators associated with this phenomenon.