Table II.
Summary of the amino acids associated with poor human oocyte and embryo developmental potential.
| Developmental stage | Biological characteristic | Amino acid | Comment | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oocyte | Increased depletion | ValineE, IsoleucineE | Associated with failure to reach MII | Current manuscript |
| Pronucleate | Increased depletion | AsparagineN | Associated with failure to give rise to a pregnancy | Brison et al. (2002) |
| Increased production | GlycineN | |||
| Decreased depletion | LeucineE | |||
| Cleavage D2–3 | Increased depletion | AsparagineN, methionineE | Associated with arrest prior to blastocyst formation | Houghton et al. (2002) |
| Increased depletion | GlutamineN, arginineN, total amino acids | Houghton et al. (2002) and Stokes et al. (2007) | ||
| Decreased production | GlutamateN | Stokes et al. (2007) | ||
| Increased production | GlycineN, alanineN | Houghton et al. (2002) and Stokes et al. (2007) | ||
| Increased production | LysineE | Stokes et al. (2007) | ||
| Increased turnover | Total amino acids | Stokes et al. (2007) | ||
| Decreased depletion | AsparagineN | Associated with chromosomal abnormality | Picton et al. (2010) | |
| Increased production | ValineE | |||
| Decreased depletion | GlycineN | |||
| Cleavage D3–4 | Increased production | SerineN, lysineE | Associated with chromosomal abnormality | Picton et al. (2010) |
| Decreased depletion | LeucineE | |||
| 8 cell-morula | Increased depletion | SerineN, total amino acids | Associated with arrest prior to blastocyst formation | Houghton et al. (2002) and Stokes et al. (2007) |
| Increased production | GlycineN, alanineN | Houghton et al. (2002) and Stokes et al. (2007) | ||
| Decreased depletion | LeucineE | Houghton et al. (2002) | ||
| Blastocyst | Increased turnover | Total amino acids | Associated with increased DNA damage | Sturmey et al. (2009) |
E, essential amino acids; N, non-essential amino acids.