High non-esterified fatty acid concentrations during preimplantation embryo development: Consequences for female fertility and offspring's health.

To further expand on this intriguing patho-phsyiological role of elevated NEFA in the problem of subfertility, it need to be addressed whether NEFA can induce epigenetic changes and whether this affects further embryo development and postnatal health. Therefore, this research proposal concentrates on the effect of oocyte maturation under elevated NEFA conditions on DNA methylation patterns in Day 7 embryos, on further pre-implantation in vivo development and on postnatal health and growth. A state of the art in vitro embryo culture and embryo transfer protocols will be used combined with advanced molecular techniques. The integration of data on Day 7 embryo physiology, DNA methylation, further development and postnatal health could provide key metabolic information on the role of elevated NEFA concentrations in reproductive failure.

Keywords:OOCYTE QUALITY, EPIGENETICS, EMBRYOLOGY

Disciplines:Animal biology, Veterinary medicine, Other veterinary sciences, Other agricultural, veterinary and food sciences

Project type:Collaboration project