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Our objective is to investigate the effect of valproic acid (VPA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor, on early embryonic development. We studied the effect of VPA on the in vitro maturation of bovine oocytes, and on the development of bovine embryos derived from in vitro fertilization (IVF) or parthenogenesis. Germinal vesicle stage bovine oocytes were cultured with different concentrations of VPA for 24 h; low dose VPA treatment (0.03 and 0.3 mM) had no effect on oocyte maturation, but 3 and 6 mM VPA significantly decreased maturation rate; when used for IVF or parthenogenesis, VPA-treated oocytes generated significantly lowered blastocyst rate. Oocytes matured in vitro were fertilized or underwent parthenogenetic activation; 6 h later, they were exposed to VPA for 48 h, and then the cleavage rate, blastocyst rate and mRNA expression levels of transcription factors ( Oct4, Nanog, and Cdx2) were assessed. For embryos cultured in 0.3 mM VPA, there was no remarkable change in cleavage rate or blastocyst rate, but the expression of Oct4 and Nanog in blastocysts was significantly increased. For embryos treated with 3.0 mM VPA, the cleavage rate and blastocyst rate were significantly decreased. In conclusion, low dose VPA has no effect on oocyte maturation but affects subsequent embryonic development. Low dose VPA administration to IVF embryos had no effect on embryonic development, but the expression of several important transcription factors was increased. Treatment of IVF embryos with low dose VPA may improve their development potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]