Improving the Effects of Omega-3 Fatty Acid on the In Vitro Maturation of Oocytes

Masume Ghorbani Vahed,Mehrdad Shariati,Mohammad Amin Edalatmanesh,Ramazan Khanbabaee

doi:10.14334/jitv.v25i4.2555

Abstract

This research was conducted in order to determine the effects of omega-3 on oocyte in vitro maturation and the level of expression of tribbles (TRIB1, TRIB2 and TRIB3 genes) in cumulus cells. Eight-ten weeks old NMRI mice were super-ovulated using 7.5 IU pregnant mare’s serum gonadotropin (PMSG, Intraperitoneal) and they were killed after 44 hours and their ovaries were removed. The oocytes were used for <em>in vitro</em> maturation and the cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were released. Cumulus cells and oocytes were assigned into control, ethanol-treated and groups exposed to 10 and 100 μg/ml of omega-3. The cells were prepared to assess the maturation stage in order to evaluate the gene expression level. The data were statistically analyzed. Exposing oocytes to low dose (10 μg/ml) and high dose (100 μg/ml) of omega-3 resulted in a reduced rate of GV-stage oocytes, decreased MI-oocytes and increased MII-oocytes. The enhanced maturity of COCs was also detected in response to a high dose of omega-3 (100 μg/ml). Exposure of cumulus cells to omega-3 (10 and 100 μg/ml) induced TRIB2 and inhibited TRIB3 gene expression level; however, TRIB1 gene expression level increased and decreased in response to low (10 μg/ml) and high (100 μg/ml) concentrations of omega-3, respectively. The addition of omega-3 to the environment of oocytes or cumulus cells affected the maturation of oocytes and cumulus cells, which was followed by the differential expression of TRIB genes, suggesting that there was a role of fatty acid metabolism in the differentiation and maturation of cumulus cells.

Highlights

There are many clinical and experimental data demonstrating the health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids in healthy individuals as well as patients with reproductive failures (Jeromson et al 2015; Cao et al 2015)
Our findings indicated that exposure of live oocytes to low (10 μg/ml) and high (100 μg/ml) dose of omega3-acid ethyl ester resulted in reduced rate of GV-stage oocytes, decreased MI-oocytes and increased MIIoocytes, demonstrating the stimulatory effects of omega-3 on maturation of live oocytes in vitro
The findings of our research indicated that adding omega-3 to cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) environment upregulates TRIB2 and downregulates TRIB3 in cumulus cells, it has been previously shown that TRIB3 was up-regulated and TRIB2 was downregulated during the preovulatory period in cumulus cells (Lussier et al 2017)

Summary

Introduction

There are many clinical and experimental data demonstrating the health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids in healthy individuals as well as patients with reproductive failures (Jeromson et al 2015; Cao et al 2015). Polyunsaturated fatty acids are major components of the granulosa cells surrounding oocytes and contribute to oocytes maturation and play significant role in female fertility (Khalil et al 2013; Shaaker et al 2012). In this condition, in vitro studies have indicated that during oocyte maturation, unsaturated lipids are incorporated into the oocyte cytoplasm and influence cellular metabolism and oocyte growth and development (Carro et al 2013)

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