Abstract
BACKGROUND: Ice growth and recrystallisation are considered important factors in determining vitrification outcomes. Synthetic polymers inhibit ice formation during cooling or warming of the vitrification process. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of adding commercially available synthetic polymers SuperCool X-1000 and SuperCool Z-1000 to vitrification media on in vivo development competence of rabbit embryos. METHODS: Four hundred and thirty morphologically normal embryos recovered at 72 h of gestation were used. The vitrification media contained 20% dimethyl sulphoxide and 20% ethylene glycol, either alone or in combination with 1% of SuperCool X-1000 and 1% SuperCool. RESULT: Our results show that embryos can be successfully vitrified using SuperCool X-1000 and SuperCool Z-1000 and when embryos are transferred, live offspring can be successfully produced. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, our results demonstrated that we succeeded for the first time in obtaining live offspring after vitrification of embryos using SuperCool X-1000 and SuperCool Z-1000 polymers.
