Effects of Stem Cells on Rat Embryo Development in Hypoxy Embryo Culture

Abstract Objective This study aimed to compare the in vitro effects of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) and adipose tissue mesenchymal stem cells (AT-MSCs) in mitigating intrauterine growth retardation caused by oxidative stress. Materials and Method 9.5-day-old embryos from Wistar albino pregnant rats were exposed to in vitro hypoxia and treated with BM-MSCs or AT-MSCs in embryo culture. At 11.5 days, embryos and yolk sacs were evaluated morphologically and histologically to assess developmental differences between groups. Results Hypoxia induced angiogenesis- and neurogenesis-related anomalies. Stem cell treatments (H + BM-MSC, H + AT-MSC) significantly improved embryonic development compared to the hypoxia group ( p < 0.05 ). Although stem cell-treated embryos lagged slightly behind controls under normoxia ( p > 0.05 ), both BM-MSC and AT-MSC applications mitigated hypoxia-related growth defects. Notably, the H + AT-MSC group showed superior development compared to the H + BM-MSC group ( p < 0.05 ), with results closer to the normoxic control group. Conclusion AT-MSCs demonstrated a more effective improvement in embryonic and yolk sac development compared to BM-MSCs under hypoxic conditions. These findings suggest that AT-MSC therapy could offer a promising approach to treat angiogenetic and neurogenetic disorders caused by oxidative stress.