Palm tocotrienol-rich-fraction yields higher numbers of normal embryos whereas alpha-tocopherol produces higher preimplantation survival in murine embryos

• Main Authors: Abd Rahman, NS (Author), Ahmad, ZA (Author), Aziz, AA (Author), Eshak, Z (Author), Hashim, N (Author), Khan, NAMN (Author), Rajikin, MH (Author), Sarbandi, MS (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: alpha-Tocopherol; ANTIOXIDANT; CHEMISTRY; electron transmission microscopy; Embryo development; Fraction (TRF); IN-VITRO; mitochondria; MITOCHONDRIA; palm Tocotrienol-Rich; PROTECTION; SIGNAL-TRANSDUCTION; VITAMIN-E
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher
• DOI: 10.11113/mjfas.v14n3.1129

Vitamin E contains isomers of tocotrienols and tocopherols. Studies have shown that palm tocotrienolrich-fraction (TRF) improves preimplantation development of murine embryos. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of TRF and alpha-tocopherol supplementation on preimplantation embryonic morphology, development and mitochondrial ultrastructure. Female C57Bl/6 mice were supplemented with 60 mg/kg body weight per day TRF and alpha-tocopherol for seven days. The females were superovulated and mated with fertile males to obtain 2-cell stage embryos. Initial assessment of normal and abnormal morphology was carried out on 2-cell embryos. The embryos were then cultured until the blastocyst stage. At the 8-cell stage, embryos were subjected to Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) to observe their mitochondria. Results showed that palm TRF produced significantly higher numbers of normal 2-cell embryos compared with alpha-tocopherol (80.9% vs 31.4%) at p<0.01. Alpha-tocopherol produced higher survival rate to the blastocyst stage compared with palm TRF (42.2% vs 20.6%) at p<0.01. The TRF group showed more vacuolated mitochondria at 8-cell stage compared to the alpha-tocopherol group, which may have contributed to a decline in preimplantation survival rates.