Practical Methods to Assess Mammalian Embryo Quality – Staining Tests Comparative Study

Embryo assessment methods changed during the last 20 years. Morphological criteria used for embryo quality assessment improved in order to increase the selection probability of the most suitable embryos for transfer. This paper is presenting, based on a rich practical experience cumulated in our research group, several practical methods used for embryo assessment. For this study we have comparative evaluate the embryo quality using four staining tests: Trypan blue staining, Neutral red staining, Fluorescein diacetate staining, Propidium iodide staining in order to establish which test is the most reliable and efficient in embryo quality evaluation. The results obtained indicated that the Fluorescein diacetate and Propidium iodide viability test can be successfully used for mouse embryo viability evaluation. This method allows detection of both viable and nonviable cells.