The Effect of L-Carnitine Additive During In Vitro Maturation on the Vitrification of Pig Oocytes.

Abstract

Cryopreservation of oocytes/embryos is an important technique for genetic resources; however, the success of vitrification in pig oocytes remained at a relatively lower level due to the high content of lipid droplets (LDs). Considering the positive effect of L-carnitine on the function of LDs, the present study was designed to investigate the effect of the addition of L-carnitine on the vitrification of porcine cumulus cells of complexes (cumulus/oocyte complexes [COCs]). First, COCs were randomly divided into two groups: one group of COCs were commonly in vitro maturation (IVM) for 42-46 hours (nonvitrification [NV]), while another group of COCs were IVM with 10 mM L-carnitine (NVL [nonvitrification with L-carnitine addition in IVM]). In addition, random parts of COCs with L-carnitine addition were vitrified (VL [vitrification with L-carnitine addition in IVM]), while vitrification was performed on COCs without L-carnitine used as control group (V). Results showed that the maturation rate of pig oocytes reduced significantly when the vitrification was performed at 16 hours during IVM (VL vs. NVL, 40.09 ± 2.85 vs. 90.76 ± 1.16; V vs. NV, 34.41 ± 2.55 vs. 89.71 ± 1.33, p < 0.01). With the addition of L-carnitine, intracellular LDs were decreased significantly (p < 0.01). However, no difference was observed on the efficiency of vitrification in pig oocytes (VL vs. V, 40.09 ± 2.85 vs. 34.41 ± 2.55, p > 0.05). In addition, not only the reactive oxygen species (ROS) level in pig oocytes with the L-carnitine addition group reduced significantly (p < 0.01), but also the expression of SOD1 gene was improved (p < 0.05). In conclusion, results demonstrated that although no difference could be observed on pig COC vitrification, the LDs and ROS level in pig oocytes could be modified by the addition of L-carnitine, which might be helpful for further development.