Fatty acids present in commercial albumin preparations differentially affect development of murine embryos before and during implantation

To characterize fatty acid (FA) profile of commercially available albumin products and determine their effect on embryonic development. Research study. Private research facility. Outbred mice aged 4–8 weeks. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to quantify the FA content of 15 commercial albumins. Embryos were produced in media containing different albumin products, with or without carnitine or exogenous FA supplementation, to determine their effect on embryo development in vitro. Total micrograms of FA per milligram of albumin for the 15 albumin products, blastocyst development, cell number, allocation to the trophectoderm (TE) or inner cell mass (ICM), and evaluation of morphology during implantation. The albumin products contained 0.07–16.77 μg total FA/mg albumin. Compared to media with with >1.4 μg FA/mg albumin, media with