Variations in bovine embryo production between individual donors for OPU-IVF are closely related to glutathione concentrations in oocytes during in vitro maturation

Variations in embryo production between individual oocyte donors represent a serious problem in cattle production, when implementing ovum-pick up (OPU) and in vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes. However, the precise cause of this problem is unknown. Here, we aimed to investigate the relationship between the glutathione (GSH) concentration in IVM oocytes and embryo development to explore a potential cause of the variations between individual donors. First, we found a high positive correlation (r  = 0.80) between the GSH concentration in IVM oocytes and the blastocyst development rate of oocytes collected in the same OPU session for each donor (N = 11).

Source: Theriogenology - March 9, 2018 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Takemasa Hidaka, Yutaka Fukumoto, Satoshi Yamamoto, Yasuhiro Ogata, Toshitaka Horiuchi Source Type: research