RESUMO
Objective Assisted reproductive technology ( ART) is associated with an increased incidence of offspring de-fects.The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of embryo vitrification in in vitro fertilization ( IVF) on the growth and devel-opment of the offspring by comparing the development status of mouse offspring from fresh embryo versus vitrified embryo transplanta-tion. Methods This study included three groups of mouse offspring , from natural fertilization ( n=12 ) , fresh embryo transplanta-tion (FET, n=9), and vitrified embryo transplantation (VET, n=9).We compared the body weight and body fat content in the sex-ually mature stage among the three groups of mice . Results No obvious differences were found in the morphology of the embryos be-tween the FET and VET groups .The body weight of the mouse offspring was significantly higher in the VET than in the natural control group at 0 postnatal (PN) week (P<0.01) and 12 PN weeks (P<0.01), and so was it in the FET group than in the control at 0 PN week (P<0.01) and 6 PN weeks (P<0.05).The body fat content at sexual maturity was remarkably higher in the VET than in the FET and control groups ([9.32 ±4.34] vs [5.24 ±2.56] and [2.80 ± 0.48] g, P<0.05), and so was the muscle content in the VET than in the control ([33.77 ±4.22] vs [27.50 ±1.79] g, P<0.01). Conclusion In IVF, fresh embryo transplantation has less interference with the growth and development of mouse offspring than vitri-fied embryo transplantation .