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Myo-inositol (myo-Ins) has a physiological role in mammalian gametogenesis and embryonic development and a positive clinical impact on human medically assisted reproduction. We have previously shown that mouse embryo exposure to myo-Ins through preimplantation development in vitro increases proliferation activity and blastocyst production, representing an improvement in culture conditions. We have herein investigated biochemical mechanisms elicited by myo-Ins in preimplantation embryos and evaluated myo-Ins effects on postimplantation/postnatal development. To this end naturally fertilized embryos were cultured in vitro to blastocyst in the presence or absence of myo-Ins and analyzed for activation of the PKB/Akt pathway, known to modulate proliferation/survival cellular processes. In parallel, blastocyst-stage embryos were transferred into pseudopregnant females and allowed to develop to term and until weaning. Results obtained provide evidence that myo-Ins induces cellular pathways involving Akt and show that (a) exposure of preimplantation embryos to myo-Ins increases the number of blastocysts available for uterine transfer and of delivered animals and (b) the developmental patterns of mice obtained from embryos cultured in the presence or absence of myo-Ins, up to three weeks of age, overlap. These data further identify myo-Ins as a possibly important supplement for human preimplantation embryo culture in assisted reproduction technology.

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