The effect of coculture on the postfertilization development of in vitro-matured monkey oocytes.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if the developmental potential of embryos resulting from in vivo- and in vitro-matured monkey oocytes could be increased through the use of a coculture system.
DESIGN: Randomized prospective comparison of embryos resulting from either in vitro- or in vivo-matured oocytes cocultured with Vero cells or cultured in medium alone (control).
SETTING: Basic research laboratory. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: In vitro embryo development to the blastocyst stage and blastocyst hatching.
RESULTS: No significant difference in development was noted between coculture and control groups with embryos resulting from in vivo-matured oocytes. However, coculture was found to improve significantly the development of monkey embryos resulting from in vitro-matured oocytes.
CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that primate embryos resulting from in vitro-matured and in vitro-fertilized oocytes differ in their culture requirement when compared with embryos resulting from in vivo-matured oocytes.