Supplementation of 9-cis retinoic acid in the in vitro maturation medium increase blastocyst development rate and quality

Abstract

Abstract:The 9-cis retinoic acid (9-cisRA) enhances early embryonic development in both in vitro and in vivo conditions. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of supplementation of 9-cisRA in the in vitro maturation (IVM) medium on embryo development efficiency and embryo quality. For this purpose, immature cumulus oocyte complexes (COC) collected from slaughterhouse derived bovine ovaries were matured in three different IVM media (control group, DMSO group and DMSO+RA group). In the control group, base IVM medium were used without supplementation of 9-cisRA and DMSO. In the DMSO group, base IVM medium was supplemented with 0.5 µl DMSO per ml IVM medium without 9-cisRA. In DMSO+RA group, base medium was supplemented with 5 nm 9-cisRA dissolved in 0.5 µl DMSO. Data were analyzed using one way ANOVA method and means were compared using Duncan's multiple range test. Results showed that, supplementation of 9-cisRA in the maturation medium has no effect on embryonic development uptocleavage stage. However, blastocyst development rates (P>0.01), total blastomere number (P> 0.01), number of apoptotic blastomere per blastocyst (P>0.05) and percent of apoptotic blastomere per blastocyst (P>0.05) were significantly influences by 9-cisRA. In conclusion, 9-cisRA may be supplemented into the maturation medium for increasing bovinein vitro blastocyst development efficiency and blastocyst quality.

Enhancing in vitro oocyte maturation competence and embryo development in farm animals: roles of vitamin-based antioxidants – A review

“…Despite the positive effects of RA on oocyte IVM, attention should be paid for its concentrations. The addition of high levels of RA to IVM medium may exert adverse effects on oocyte development and maturation, alters the transcription level of antioxidant-related genes, causes mitochondria dysfunction, and inhibits the immune defense of oocytes and embryos (Almiñana et al, 2008;Gad et al, 2018;Gómez et al, 2003;Islam et al, 2017). The neutral or deleterious influence of high levels of retinoids developed during the IVM may be ascribed to the interaction between follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and retinoids (Gómez et al, 2003).…”

The Usefulness of Retinoic Acid Supplementation during in Vitro Oocyte Maturation for the in Vitro Embryo Production of Livestock: A Review

“…Under elevated temperature (41 °C for the first 12 h and 38.5 °C for the second 12 h), RA supplementation at the 7.55 nM level to in vitro embryo production exhibited highly significant ( p < 0.01) cleavage rates compared to controls (38.5 °C for 24 h) in bovine species [40]. Conversely, Islam et al [41] state that RA (5 nM) supplemented to the in vitro bovine oocyte maturation medium did not influence the cleavage rates. This may be attributed to the activation of the gamete genome at the eight-cell stage in bovine.…”

“…This may be attributed to the activation of the gamete genome at the eight-cell stage in bovine. Until this stage, the maternal factors borne by the oocytes regulated the development and growth of the gamete; thus, supplementation of the medium and the culture condition do not influence the development rate up until cleavage [33,41]. Alminana et al [29] found that the addition of 125 nM AtRA resulted in a significant elevation in the ratio of divided embryos.…”

“…Furthermore, supplementation with RA (5 nM) significantly improved the buffalo blastocyst formation rate by 38.88% compared to that in the control [5], which could be attributed to the possible activation of the RA-inducible MAP kinase phosphatase gene, polyadenylation of mRNA in oocytes, regulation of redox signaling pathways, and gene expression of midkine [5]. In addition, Islam et al [41] detected a significantly enhanced bovine blastocyst development rate, total blastomere number, percentage of apoptotic blastomere per blastocyst, and apoptotic blastomere count per blastocyst with the addition of RA. The RA enhances the in vitro maturation of oocytes by affecting luteinizing hormone or FSH receptor transcription [38], increasing the mRNA quality and processing [42], growth factor signalling [2] by endogenous oxidative-stress conservation mechanisms [43], and/or the prevention of apoptosis [33].…”