Reducing oxidative stress during vitrification procedure

Background: One of the main challenges in vitrification is to optimize the specific solutions in which the embryos experience the minimum level of the thermal and oxidative stress. Although many efforts have been performed in order to choose the best combination of cryoprotectant agents, the process still causes extensive cell damage. In this context, the present study was conducted to determine whether suspended graphene with regards to its antioxidant properties and high thermal conductivity and molecular weight could be used instead of sucrose in vitrification solution.Methods: After finding the optimal graphene concentration for freezing and thawing solutions, in vivo mouse produced blastocysts were randomly divided into sucrose and graphene groups. Vitrification was performed using both kinds of solutions and their efficiency was compared in terms of survival, hatching and implantation rate and the relative intracellular levels of peroxides.Result: According to our results, not only the survival, hatching and implantation rate in the graphene-based group were as high as that in the sucrose-based one, but also the peroxide levels of the blastocysts significantly was decreased using graphene in vitrification solutions.Conclusion: These results demonstrated that the graphene can be applied instead of the most commonly used non-permeant cryoprotectant i.e. sucrose and leads to reduced oxidative stress level during blastocyst vitrification process

کلیدواژه ها:

Cryoprotectant Agent ، Graphene ، Oxidative stress ، Thermal Conductivity ، Vitrification