Abstract
Ovarian tissue vitrification is a promising method to preserve follicles and gametes, but can be improved with mineral supplementation to the vitrification medium. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of supplementing 0.5 mg/mL zinc chloride to the media during cryopreservation of pig ovarian tissue. After thawing, the following criteria were evaluated: (1) follicular development and damage, (2) in vitro fertilization (IVF) characteristics, and (3) embryonic development. The number of damaged antral follicles (72.0 ± 3.8%) was less (p < 0.05) in ovarian tissue vitrified in media supplemented with zinc chloride compared to those not supplemented with zinc chloride (86.7 ± 4.1%). Oocytes obtained from the antral follicles on ovarian tissue vitrified in media supplemented with zinc chloride had less (p < 0.05) polyspermic penetration and higher (p < 0.05) male pronuclear formation during IVF than oocytes obtained from ovarian tissue not supplemented with zinc chloride. There were no statistical differences in embryonic development rates. Based on these results, supplementing zinc chloride during the vitrification protocol improves follicular development and subsequent IVF in pigs.
Highlights
There is a growing interest and need for cryopreservation techniques to be improved so that ovarian tissue and oocytes can be preserved in biomedical models and endangered species (Mouttham and Comizzoli 2016)
There were no significant differences in the percentage of primordial, primary, and preantral follicles between the control and zinc chloride supplementation treatment groups (Table 1)
Results from the current study show that supplementation of 0.5 mg/mL zinc chloride during vitrification of ovarian cortex tissue samples decreases antral follicle damage after thawing
Summary
There is a growing interest and need for cryopreservation techniques to be improved so that ovarian tissue and oocytes can be preserved in biomedical models and endangered species (Mouttham and Comizzoli 2016). Ovarian tissue is more susceptible to damage during vitrification since there are multiple cell types and levels of permeability within the tissue (Abedelahi et al 2013). In addition to tissue damage, the vitrification process increases the reactive oxygen species (ROS) in oocytes leading to reduced viability (Gupta et al 2010). Antioxidants help protect tissues from the damaging effects of oxidative stress by helping to maintain a more ideal level of ROS (Takahashi 2012). Antioxidants reduce risk of oxidative stress and lower ROS levels within a cell by converting
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