Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine whether a morphological approach is efficient for selecting high‐quality porcine embryos produced by in vitro fertilization (IVF) under high polyspermy conditions. Frozen‐thawed Meishan epididymal spermatozoa showing moderate and high polyspermy were subjected to IVF (1 × 105 sperms/ml). Under conditions of moderate polyspermy, 4‐cell embryos selected at 48 hr after IVF (single selection) and 8‐cell embryos selected at 79 hr after IVF from the collected 4‐cell embryos (double selection) showed high developmental competence. Likewise, 4‐ and 8‐cell embryos produced by IVF under high polyspermy conditions also showed high competence for development to blastocysts. However, blastocysts derived from high polyspermy conditions had significantly fewer cells than those produced under moderate polyspermy conditions. Furthermore, the frequency of nuclear and chromosomal abnormalities in 4‐ and 8‐cell embryos produced under conditions of high polyspermy was significantly (p < .05) higher in comparison to moderate polyspermy conditions. These findings suggest that although high polyspermy affects the frequency of nuclear and chromosomal anomalies in porcine IVF embryos, subsequent selection based on morphological features of 4‐ and 8‐cell embryos even under high polyspermy conditions, could be an alternative option for selecting porcine IVF embryos with high development ability.
Highlights
In vitro production (IVP) of porcine embryos is an important tool for porcine gene banking (Kikuchi et al, 2016) as well as for human biomedical research (Niemann & Rath, 2001)
In a preliminary experiment using our current IVP system, with the support of time-lapse cinematography, we found that single selection of 4-cell embryos and double selection of 8-cell embryos showed a high potential for rapid development to good-quality blastocysts (Nguyen et al, unpublished)
It was considered that the data from this study would lead to an alternative option for selection of embryos at fixed time points based on their morphological features, and yield insight into whether a selection approach based on embryonic morphology would still be effective under high polyspermy conditions, an aspect that is essential for porcine reproduction studies where a high polyspermy rate is often unavoidable
Summary
Dawson, & Rogers, 1987; Rudak, Dor, Mashiach, Nebel, & Goldman, 1984) and cattle (Iwasaki et al, 1992; Iwasaki, Shioya, Masuda, Hanada, & Nakahara, 1989) but at lower frequency. In humans and many other mammalian species it has been shown that the developmental competence of embryos is linked with the timing of early cleavages after IVF (Alikani et al, 2000; Dang-Nguyen et al, 2010; Edirisinghe et al, 1992; Lonergan et al, 1999; Magli et al, 2007; McKiernan & Bavister, 1994; Ulloa Ulloa, Yoshizawa, Komoriya, et al, 2008; Ulloa Ulloa, Yoshizawa, Yamashita, et al, 2008) Those previous studies showed that good-quality embryos could be selected based on their morphological features and the timing of early cleavages. It was considered that the data from this study would lead to an alternative option for selection of embryos at fixed time points based on their morphological features, and yield insight into whether a selection approach based on embryonic morphology would still be effective under high polyspermy conditions, an aspect that is essential for porcine reproduction studies where a high polyspermy rate is often unavoidable
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