Oocyte maturation and glycolysis in isolated pre-ovulatory follicles of PMS-injected immature rats.

Graafian follicles were isolated by microdissection from the ovaries of PMS-injected immature rats killed at specific times on the day before ovulation. They were incubated in Krebs bicarbonate buffer containing 5 mM glucose and 1% bovine serum albumin. The oocytes were recovered after incubation and examined by Nomarski interference contrast microscopy. The amount of lactate and glucose in the incubation medium was analysed enzymatically. Oocytes recovered from follicles extirpated in the morning, i.e. before the endogenous LH surge, and incubated for 2-10 h were in the dictyate stage, while addition of LH or FSH to the medium resulted in oocyte maturation as revealed by germinal vesicle breakdown (GVB) and polar body formation. The time-course of GVB in vitro was similar to that seen in vivo after exogenous LH. Both gonadotrophins markedly enhanced lactate accumulation in the medium and, as studied for LH, glucose uptake by the follicles. The effects of LH but not those of FSH, on GVB and lactate formation were prevented by the presence of an antiserum against the beta-subunit of LH. The gonadotrophic effects on GVB could be mimicked by the addition of prostaglandin E2 to the medium. When the follicles were extirpated in the late afternoon, i.e. after the LH surge, and incubated in hormone-free medium for 4 h the oocytes showed GVB in a progressively increasing proportion depending on the time of follicle extirpation. Lactate formation by this group of follicles was markedly enhanced compared to that of "morning" follicles, but it could be even more stimulated by in vitro exposure to LH. A preliminary series of experiments on the effect of phosphodiesterase inhibitors showed that theophylline and isobutylmethylxanthine at certain concentrations completely blocked the LH effect on GVB, whereas a newly developed compound, ICI 63.197, in itself induced GVB.