Catteeuw Maaike, Wydooghe Eline, Mullaart Erik, Knijn Hiemke M, Van Soom Ann
Department of Reproduction, Obstetrics, and Herd Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820, Merelbeke, Belgium.
CRV BV, Wassenaarweg 20, 6843 NW, Arnhem, The Netherlands.
Acta Vet Scand. 2017 Jun 15;59(1):41. doi: 10.1186/s13028-017-0309-9.
Since the identity of the embryo is of outmost importance during commercial in vitro embryo production, bovine oocytes and embryos have to be cultured strictly per donor. Due to the rather low yield of oocytes collected after ovum pick-up (OPU) per individual cow, oocyte maturation and embryo culture take place in small groups, which is often associated with inferior embryo development. The objective of this study was to improve embryonic development in small donor groups by using the Corral dish. This commercial dish is designed for human embryo production. It contains two central wells that are divided into quadrants by a semi-permeable wall. In human embryo culture, one embryo is placed per quadrant, allowing individual follow-up while embryos are exposed to a common medium. In our study, small groups of oocytes and subsequently embryos of different bovine donors were placed in the Corral dish, each donor group in a separate quadrant.
In two experiments, the Corral dish was evaluated during in vitro maturation (IVM) and/or in vitro culture (IVC) by grouping oocytes and embryos of individual bovine donors per quadrant. At day 7, a significantly higher blastocyst rate was noted in the Corral dish used during IVM and IVC than when only used during IVM (12.9% ± 2.10 versus 22.8% ± 2.67) (P < 0.05). However, no significant differences in blastocyst yield were observed anymore between treatment groups at day 8 post insemination.
In the present study, the Corral dish was used for in vitro embryo production (IVP) in cattle; allowing to allocate oocytes and/or embryos per donor. As fresh embryo transfers on day 7 have higher pregnancy outcomes, the Corral dish offers an added value for commercial OPU/IVP, since a higher blastocyst development at day 7 is obtained when the Corral dish is used during IVM and IVC.
由于在商业体外胚胎生产过程中胚胎的身份至关重要，牛的卵母细胞和胚胎必须严格按照供体进行培养。由于每头母牛经采卵（OPU）收集的卵母细胞产量相当低，卵母细胞成熟和胚胎培养是以小群体进行的，这通常与较差的胚胎发育相关。本研究的目的是通过使用Corral培养皿来改善小供体群体中的胚胎发育。这种商业化培养皿专为人类胚胎生产设计。它包含两个中央孔，由半透膜壁分隔成象限。在人类胚胎培养中，每个象限放置一个胚胎，在胚胎暴露于共同培养基时允许进行个体跟踪。在我们的研究中，将不同牛供体的小群体卵母细胞以及随后的胚胎放置在Corral培养皿中，每个供体组位于一个单独的象限。
在两项实验中，通过将单个牛供体的卵母细胞和胚胎按象限分组，在体外成熟（IVM）和/或体外培养（IVC）期间对Corral培养皿进行了评估。在第7天，在IVM和IVC期间使用的Corral培养皿中观察到的囊胚率显著高于仅在IVM期间使用时（12.9%±2.10对22.8%±2.67）（P<0.05）。然而，在授精后第8天，各处理组之间的囊胚产量不再观察到显著差异。
在本研究中，Corral培养皿用于牛的体外胚胎生产（IVP）；允许按供体分配卵母细胞和/或胚胎。由于第7天的新鲜胚胎移植具有更高的妊娠成功率，Corral培养皿为商业OPU/IVP提供了附加价值，因为在IVM和IVC期间使用Corral培养皿时，在第7天可获得更高的囊胚发育率。
