Eicosapentaenoic acid supplemented to in vitro maturation medium results in lesser lipid content and intracellular reactive oxygen species in blastocysts of cattle

Abstract

Sub-optimal cattle embryo development to the blastocyst stage still is a problem when conductingin vitro production (IVP) procedures. Supplementation of in vitro maturation (IVM) medium withomega 3-polyunsaturated eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) is an approach that might have positiveeffects on lipid metabolism of cattle oocytes, potentially improving subsequent embryo development.The aim of this study was to evaluate effects of EPA addition to serum-free IVM mediumon pronuclear formation after in vitro fertilization, cleavage, and blastocyst rates. Effects of EPAon lipid accumulation and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation with IVP ofcattle embryos was also investigated. In all experiments, cumulus-oocyte complexes werematured in IVM medium supplemented with 0 nM, 1 nM, or 1 μM EPA for 24 h. Pronuclearformation, cleavage, and blastocyst rates were similar for embryos when there was supplementation of EPA at all concentrations to those of the control group (P > 0.05). The inclusion of 1 nM EPA in medium resulted in a greater lipid content and less intracellular ROS in day 8-embryos compared with those of the Control group (P < 0.05). There were no differences, however,when there was inclusion of 1 μM EPA compared to embryos of the Control group at the day 8developmental stage (P > 0.05). In conclusion, supplementation with IVM medium with the 1 nMEPA concentration resulted in a lesser blastocyst lipid and intracellular ROS concentration,without modifying embryo development, therefore, EPA could be a desirable supplement toimprove embryo quality in cattle.