Growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF-9) levels in spent culture media and pregnancy outcome

High concentration of growth differentiation factor‐9 (GDF‐9) to the ram semen had a negative effect on the sperm positive rheotaxis

“…GDF-9 and its receptor were expressed in immature bovine Sertoli cells (SCs) and exogenous GDF-9 significantly promoted SCs proliferation and inhibited their apoptosis (Tang et al, 2017). In addition, GDF-9 was detected in spent culture media as a by-product of the human embryo (Kaskar et al, 2020). Using microfluidic devices in assisted reproductive techniques has been used to model the different reproductive tract environments, and the positive rheotaxis (PR) examination of semen can contribute to evaluating its reproductive performance in rams (Abdel-Ghani et al, 2020).The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of different concentrations of GDF-9 after 10, 20 or 30 min of incubation on sperm rheotaxis using a microfluidic device.…”