Effects of dietary quercetin on retrieved mouse oocytes and in vitro fertilization outcomes.

Objective: To investigate the effects of dietary quercetin on the retrieved mouse oocytes and IVF outcomes.

Methods: Female mice were divided into two groups. Mice were given 0.2 mL water without (control group) or with quercetin 30 mg/kg (quercetin group) orally via gavage, once a day for 21 consecutive days. After that female mice were superovulated for in vitro fertilization. We observed the effect of dietary quercetin on the number of retrieved oocytes, oocyte degeneration rate, fertilization rate, blastocyst formation rate, and blastocyst cell numbers.

Results: There was no difference in the number of retrieved oocytes per mouse (27.3±6.7 and 27.2±5.8), oocyte fragmentation rate (28.4% and 25.0%), fertilization rate (47.4% and 50.6%) and blastocyst formation rate (34.8% and 34.7%) in the quercetin group compared to the control group. The proportion of hatching and hatched blastocyst was significantly lower in the quercetin group (17.2% and 27.8%, p=0.004) and significantly lower numbers of cells in TE (47.4±15.3 and 57.2±17.7) and total cells (66.2±18.5 and 77.5±20.7) compared to the control group (p=0.001).

Conclusions: Dietary quercetin supplementation has a detrimental effect on mouse embryo quality. Moreover, it did not show any beneficial effect on the ovary in both quantity and quality. This finding raises awareness of the general use of dietary quercetin supplements in infertile females.