Abstract
Inbred BALB/c strain mouse was characterized by a low in vitro fertilization (IVF) rate. However, this strain has been used broadly for various researches, especially for researches in immunology. For improving the fertilization rate in this strain, we used taurine, a sulfur-containing β-amino acid that had been reported to be effective in improving fertilization in several species. Taurine (1 or 10 mM) did not change the proportion of capacitated spermatozoa in vitro. However, 1 mM taurine significantly (P<0.05) improved the fertilizaton rate compared to that of the control. The highest fertilizaton rate (78%) was obtained by addition of 1 mM taurine to TYH medium. The taurine effect on the early embryonic development was also examined in a simple culture medium (KSOM) for 4 days culture. There was no effect of taurine on embryo development. More than 50% of fertilized embryos developed to the blastocyst stage without taurine. The viability of fertilized embryos was proved by embryo transfer to ICR recipient mice. A total of 13 offsprings were born from two recipient mice. The present results indicate that taurine has a supporting effect on the improvement of IVF in inbred BALB/c mouse strain. Fertilized embryos developed to the blastocyst stage in in vitro culture and normal offspring after embryo transfer.
