Supplementation of in-vitro fertilisation culture medium with platelet activating factor

The supplementation of culture medium with platelet activating factor (PAF) on the subsequent implantation and pregnancy potential of pre-embryos produced by in-vitro fertilisation was studied. Pre-embryo culture medium was supplemented with 0 (control), 0.186, 0.93, or 1.49 mumol/1 PAF. Pre-embryos were transferred to PAF-containing medium 15-17 h after insemination (ie, just before syngamy) for 24 h and then transferred to the uterus. For 185 women receiving control pre-embryos, the pregnancy rate (positive beta human chorionic gonadotropin per oocyte retrieval) was 10.2%, while 166 women who received PAF treated pre-embryos (all concentrations combined) achieved a pregnancy rate of 17.5%. This difference was significant. The pregnancy rates per pre-embryo transferred were 6.1% and 9.4% for the control and PAF groups, respectively. The percentage of positive pregnancy tests that resulted in a viable pregnancy (presence of fetal heart at 8 weeks) was 78.9% in the controls and 75.9% in the PAF group. There was no difference in the average number of embryos transferred in either group. The increase in the pregnancy rate after a short exposure of pre-embryos to PAF in vitro suggests that PAF mediates pre-embryo development.