Abstract
Purpose:Our purpose was to evaluate the requirements for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and recombinant luteinizing hormone (rec-LH) for follicular development and maturation in mice.
Methods:We carried out ovarian stimulation of immature mice. Output parameters were the preembryos created in vivo and frequency of blastocyst formation in vitro.
Results:hCG at 0 to 1 IU resulted in a dose-dependent recovery of preembryos (0 to 39.7 ± 4.3; mean ± SE) per mouse. hCG at 1 and 10 hCG gave similar results, whereas higher doses significantly reduced the number of preembryos. Potential for blastocyst formation was independent of hCG dose. hCG and rec-LH together exerted a synergistic effect on the recovery of preembryos.
Conclusions:Optimal follicular development required a combination of 20 IU follicle stimulating hormone and 1–10 IU hCG. The potency of hCG was higher than that of rec-LH, but a synergistic effect of rec-LH and hCG was observed. The results may be pertinent for the development of strategies for ovarian stimulation of women with low levels of endogenous LH.
Keywords: ovarian stimulation, oocyte maturation, human chorionic gonadotropin, recombinant luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, preembryos, blastocysts
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