Culturing human embryos with and without glucose

Objective: to review published and to compare pregnancy rates (PRs) after culturing human embryos with and without glucose and phosphate. Design: Comparison of results from various programs. Setting: Assisted Reproductive Technology Program. Patient(s): Patients were enrolled in various studies. Intervention(s): Human embryos were cultured with and without glucose and phosphate. Main Outcome Measure(s): Pregnancy rates after different techniques of embryo culture. Result(s): Some studies reported higher PRs in patients undergoing IVF after embryos were cultured in media without glucose and phosphate versus media with glucose and phosphate. One study showed that PRs were lower when embryos were cultured in media lacking glucose and phosphate compared with media containing glucose and phosphate. Some studies have also shown similar PRs with the two types of culture media. Conclusion(s): The PRs in IVF patients will not necessarily be enhanced if the embryos are cultured in media without glucose and phosphate. (C) 1998 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.