In vitro application of Matrigel enhances human blastocyst formation and hatching

Background: matrigel (extracellular matrix) can improve the growth of many celltypes in vitro.objective: the aim of the present study was to determine the effect of matrigel on thedevelopment of2-4 cells human embryos in culture.material and methods: surplus 2-4 cells human embryos, resulting from icsi, weredivid ed into two groups (control and test). quality of embryos in both groups wasmorphologically similar. the test group (n=140) was cultured in hams' flosupplemented with 10% human serum albumin and 150 j!l liquid matrigel. the controlgroup (n=140) was cultured in the same medium devoid of matrigel. embryos werecultured for an additional 4 days and their morphology was assessed every 24 hours .both groups were then statistically compared.results: the percentage of the human embryos that reached the morula stage in thecontrol and test groups were 79.2% and 80%, respectively (p>0 .05). however, 36.4%of embryos reached the blastocyst stage in the test group as compared to 5.7% in thecontrol group after 144 hours in culture. this difference was statically significant (p<0.0 1). in addition, culture of embryos on matrigel and medium versus medium alonesignificantly improved in vitro hatching (25.7% versus 3.5%; p <0.01).conclusion: matrigel at low concentration enhances human blastocyst formation andhatching in vitro.