The Simulated Physiological Oocyte Maturation (SPOM) System Enhances Cytoplasmic Maturation and Oocyte Competence in Cattle

Abstract

In vitro embryo production in cattle still needs improvement in order to reach quality and pregnancy rates comparable to in vivo-derived embryos. One of the limitations of this technique is related to the poor in vitro maturation of oocytes, mainly related to incomplete cytoplasmatic maturation. In the present work, we studied the effect of regulating cytoplasmatic maturation on the blastocyst production rate and quality. We found out that oocytes that were cultured in the presence of cyclic adenosine monophosphate modulators reached a maximum of mitochondrial activity earlier than not-treated oocytes, which led to a significantly improved blastocyst quality and production rate.