Effect of serum from patients with endometriosis on the development of mouse embryos

The effect of serum from patients with endometriosis on the in vitro development of 2-cell mouse embryos was evaluated in the present study. Embryos were cultured for 72 h in 5% serum supplement from patients with endometriosis, infertile patients with no evidence of endometriosis, and Ham's F-10 medium with no serum supplement. Significantly less embryos developed to the blastocyst stage at 72 h in the endometriosis group as compared with the nonendometriosis groups and Ham's F-10 medium (p less than 0.05). These results suggest the presence of one or more serum factors that are toxic to early embryonic development and thus may play a role in the infertility associated with endometriosis, especially with respect to early embryonic loss.