GAIN™ MEDIUM, FertiPro, Belgium
159.20₾
Single-step culture medium
GAIN medium is a bicarbonate buffered medium optimized to provide an excellent in vitro environment for human gametes and embryos. GAIN medium can be used for sperm preparation, oocyte incubation and fertilization. It is a single-step medium designed for continuous embryo culture from day 1 to expanded blastocyst stage. The medium can also be used for embryo transfer. Oocyte and embryo culture should be performed in a CO2 incubator
Single-step culture medium
GAIN medium is a bicarbonate buffered medium optimized to provide an excellent in vitro environment for human gametes and embryos. GAIN medium can be used for sperm preparation, oocyte incubation and fertilization. It is a single-step medium designed for continuous embryo culture from day 1 to expanded blastocyst stage. The medium can also be used for embryo transfer. Oocyte and embryo culture should be performed in a CO2 incubator
The medium contains 0.35% human serum albumin (EMA, Ph Eur, USP, FDA approved), gentamicin and low concentrations of phenol red (pH indicator).
GAIN media undergo strict quality control to comply with the following specifications:
| pH 37°C - 5% CO2 | 7.20-7.45 |
| Osmolality | 270-290mOsm/kg |
| Sterility | Sterile |
| Endotoxine | < 0.25 EU/mL |
| Mouse embryo test | ≥ 80% blastocysts after 96h incubation |
| Shelflife | 12 months from date of produce |
| Albumin | FDA (USA) and EMEA (Europe) compliant |
Regulatory
Europe: CE-marked - Brazil: registered
Product order codes
| GAIN010 | GAIN medium - 1x 10ml |
| GAIN020 | GAIN medium - 5x 20ml |
The product composition can be found in the MSDS (see Resources). Additional information on some components is provided below:
| Component | Benefit |
| No HEPES (0 mM) | GAIN medium does not contain HEPES, therefore CO2 incubation is required. |
| Gentamicin sulphate (10 mg/L) | GAIN medium is also available with the addition of gentamicin sulphate. |
| Indeed, even under aseptic conditions, commensal bacteria are easily introduced in culture media. Since these contaminations can be detrimental to gametes, embryos and ART outcome, a large number of customers choose to use media supplemented with gentamicin (Quinn 2014). | |
| Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) tests done by FertiPro N.V. have demonstrated that embryo culture media supplemented with 0.010 g/L gentamicin efficiently eliminate bacterial growth. | |
| Even though, each handling should be performed under strict aseptic conditions (LAF-bench)! | |
| EDTA | EDTA probably acts in several ways (Quinn 2000). EDTA is known to act as a chelator of heavy metal divalent cations that may be present as trace contaminants in media components and plastic culture ware. |
| Moreover, EDTA acts through the chelation of iron resulting in a lowered generation of reactive oxygen species (Nasr-Esfahani et al. 1990). EDTA may also suppress glycolysis and may therefore be beneficial for the culture of cleavage stage embryos (Lane and Gardner 2001). | |
| GAIN medium contains 3.5 g/Liter Human Serum Albumin (HSA) to optimize medium performances. HSA is universally added to most ART media because it is widely considered to be of benefit. | |
| The role of albumin in ART media is extensive, including: | |
| - Stabilization of the cell membrane of the embryo in the medium (Malda, et al. 2008). | |
| - Inhibition of lipid peroxidation that can be damaging to sperm (Alvarez en Storey 1995). | |
| - Carrier and source of essential molecules needed by the embryo (Malda, et al. 2008). | |
| - Detoxification by binding waste products from cell metabolism (Blake, et al. 2004) | |
| - Facilitating gamete/embryo manipulation by preventing adsorption to the surface through saturation of potential binding sites (Blake, et al. 2004) |
