Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Aug 31;77(4):1325-1330.
doi: 10.22092/ARI.2022.358955.2343. eCollection 2022 Aug.

Mineral Oil for in vitro Embryo Production: What We Should Know?

M Ebrahimi  1   2 , L Mara  2 , A Parham  1   3 , M Dattena  2
Affiliations
Review

Mineral Oil for in vitro Embryo Production: What We Should Know?

M Ebrahimi et al. Arch Razi Inst. .

Abstract

Mineral oil as a barrier can minimize temperature, osmolality, and pH fluctuation of the media in the in vitro embryo production system (IVP). Regardless of these advantages, mineral oil quality is varied and may deteriorate during storage or transport conditions. So, it can affect the IVP outcome by absorbing the essentials factors or realizing the toxic components into the media. Although, some methods have already been developed to reduce these side effects, still there is a big concern about the safety and use of mineral oil in the IVP system. In this review, we provided an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of using mineral oil in the IVP system. We also reviewed available methods for its quality control and finally, we introduced some methods for reducing the side effects of mineral oil.

Keywords: Embryo production; Oocyte membrane; Toxicity; in vitro culture.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effect of mineral oil on embryo in the micro droplet culture system Mineral oil can add some toxic substances to the in vitro culture media or absorb some lipid soluble substances from the media, such as hormones (Estradiol and Progesterone). Low volume of culture media and high contact surface with the MO can accelerate this exchange between media and MO.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effect of toxic mineral oil on sheep oocyte membrane. A) The membrane integrity after IVM seems healthy without any detectable signs. B) Blastomer membrane disappeared and cells shape are not recognizable at 72h after in vitro fertilization (arrows shows the membrane line) ( 7 ).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Morbeck DE, Khan Z, Barnidge DR, Walker DL. Washing mineral oil reduces contaminants and embryotoxicity. Fertil Steril. 2010;94(7):2747–52. - PubMed
    1. Miller KF, Goldberg JM, Collins RL. Covering embryo cultures with mineral oil alters embryo growth by acting as a sink for an embryotoxic substance. J Assist Reprod Genet. 1994;11(7):342–5. - PubMed
    1. Lee S, Cho M, Kim E, Kim T, Lee C, Han J, et al. Renovation of a drop embryo cultures system by using refined mineral oil and the effect of glucose and/or hemoglobin added to a serum-free medium. J Vet Med Sci. 2004;66(1):63–6. - PubMed
    1. Tae JC, Kim EY, Lee WD, Park SP, Lim JH. Sterile filtered paraffin oil supports in vitro developmental competence in bovine embryos comparable to co-culture. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2006;23(3):121–7. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Zhu BK, Walker SK, Maddocks S. Optimisation of in vitro culture conditions in B6CBF1 mouse embryos. Reprod Nutr Dev. 2004;44(3):219–31. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources