Influence of forskolin supplementation on embryos produced in vitro

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of forskolin supplementation of the culture medium on the development, lipid content, and transcript levels genes of in vitro-produced bovine embryos. Ovaries (n = 420) from Nelore cows were obtained from the slaughterhouse. On day 5 (D5) of in vitro culture, the embryos in the experimental group were treated with 10 µM of forskolin, and the control group embryos were not treated. The evaluation was performed based on blastocyst and hatching rates on D7 and D10. For the evaluation of lipid deposition, blastocysts (D7; n = 10/group) were stained with the Sudan black B. Additionally, 47 genes were analyzed with RTq-PCR. The embryo lipid content (gray intensity) was similar (P > 0.05) between the forskolin (772 ± 4.8) and control (883 ± 5.2) groups. The mRNA transcript levels of GPX1, HAND1, POU5F1 and HP1 were increased in the control group (P = 0.06). The mRNA transcript level of SREBF1 was equal (P = 0.06) in both treatments, and those of AKR1, IFNT2 (P = 0.06) and SCD (P = 0.08) were increased in forskolin-derived embryos when compared with control embryos. There was no difference (P > 0.05) in the blastocyst production rate between the forskolin (37.9%) and control (39.5%) groups. Interestingly, the blastocyst hatching rate at D10 was higher (P = 0.09) in the forskolin group (62.9%) than in the control group (48.4%).