Allicin protects porcine oocytes against damage during aging in vitro

Abstract

Allicin, a chemical component of garlic, has strong antioxidant activity and is thought to exert antiaging effects in vitro. We investigated whether allicin treatment would protect porcine oocytes and embryos from postovulatory aging mediated by apoptosis and autophagy. The rates of oocyte survival and polar body extrusion in samples treated with 1 µM allicin (1 AL) were significantly higher than in untreated samples (0 AL). In addition, 1 AL prevented defects in spindle formation and chromosome alignment, as well as decreases in the expression of maturation markers, during in vitro aging. In this study, we considered allicin to be a regulator of autophagy rather than an antioxidant or antiapoptotic agent. At the embryo level, although the cleavage rate after parthenogenetic activation was similar in all groups, the blastocyst formation rate was higher in the 1 AL group than in the 0 AL group. Our findings demonstrate that allicin effectively prevents the deterioration of porcine oocytes during aging in vitro, and could therefore be used to improve the quality of aged oocytes used in in vitro experiments.

Inhibitory effects of astaxanthin on postovulatory porcine oocyte aging in vitro

“…GSH as an endogenous antioxidant not only maintain the intracellular redox balance, but also is an indicator of cytoplasmic maturation to reflect the oocyte fertilization and subsequent development 41 . There was no reduction of GSH content for aged oocytes in this study, similar to previous reports 42 , 43 ; however, several studies have showed the aged oocytes with lower level of GSH 44 , 45 . Moreover, the aged oocytes treated with Ax exhibited an increase in intracellular GSH content, which is similar to the result of antioxidant hesperetin treatment 42 .…”

The antioxidant icariin protects porcine oocytes from age-related damage in vitro

“…In previous studies, there was no data for ICA treatment on oocytes during in vitro aging. However, previous studies have shown that other antioxidants (hesperetin and allicin) protect oocytes against oxidative stress received during aging in vitro and inhibit abnormal spindle formation and decrease of maternal genes and MAPK activity [14,19]. Treatment with hesperetin during aging of oocytes in vitro has been shown to protect the chromosomes and spindles in MII and prevent the decrease in expression of the maternal genes CCNB1, MOS, BMP15, and GDF9 [14].…”

“…Chromosome condensation is the most noticeable event during meiotic maturation and is important for formation and proper separation of chromosomes. Oxidative stress generated during aging in the maturation stage of the oocyte has a negative effect on cytoplasmic maturation and nuclear maturation [14,19]. In previous studies, there was no data for ICA treatment on oocytes during in vitro aging.…”

The mystery of monozygotic twinning II: What can monozygotic twinning tell us about Amyoplasia from a review of the various mechanisms and types of monozygotic twinning?

“…Trauma, temperature, irradiation, starvation, chemical imbalance, and physical separation of blastocoel cells can all produce MZ twins (Aston et al, 2008). Double‐yolked eggs and two‐headed reptiles and amphibians are seen “in the wild,” and even conjoined domestic animals have been reported, but essentially all normally occurring twins (or other multiples) in animals are the result of polyovulation (e.g., more than one ova is ovulated and then successfully fertilized): cow (Hashiyada, 2017; Jiang et al, 2019; Klein et al, 2006; Shojaei Saadi et al, 2017; Song et al, 2012; Taylor & Murray, 1991), dog (Hogenboom, 2016; Joonè et al, 2016, 2017; Moura et al, 2017; Urhausen et al, 2017), fish (Samarin et al, 2015), frog (Tokmakov & Sato, 2019), horse (Govaere et al, 2009), lemur (St Clair et al, 2014), monkey (Schramm & Paprocki, 2004), mouse (Freund et al, 2013; Kitami & Nadeau, 2002; McLaren et al, 1995), pig (Corner, 1922; Kim et al, 2019; Park et al, 2019; Zhang et al, 2018), polar bear (Malenfant et al, 2016), rabbit (Bomsel‐Helmreich & Papiernik‐Berkhauer, 1976; Orgebin‐Crist, 1968; Shaver & Carr, 1967), salmon (Ytteborg et al, 2010), sheep (Celi et al, 2007), and starfish (Limatola et al, 2019). Some of the recent works in animals are related to “overripe ova” and how to improve the outcome of old eggs (Jiang et al, 2019; Kim et al, 2019; Song et al, 2012; Tokmakov & Sato, 2019).…”

“…The nucleolus and its role in ribosome production could be key (Gupta & Santoro, 2020). In animals, certain treatment of the “overripe ova” and dying cells seems to increase the viability of the embryo (Jiang et al, 2019; Kim et al, 2019; Lin et al, 2018; Park et al, 2019; Zhang et al, 2018, 2019). Is there a cellular survival response in an aging ovum (Green, 2020)?…”