Production of Bovine IVF Embryos with Various Culture Media

Abstract

The objective of this study is to produce bovine IVF embryos by using various culture media. Cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) were matured (22 h) in TCM-199, Ham'sF-10, Brinster, m-CR1aa, m-SOF and m-Bavister , respectively. The COCs were transferred into BO medium, and exposed to sperm for 5 h. Fertilized COCs were cultured for 9 days in the various culture medium mentioned above (Experiment 1). The proportions of embryos cleaved and blastocysts were higher with TCM-199 (80.6% vs 33.2%), m-Bavister (49.5% vs 25.7%) and m-SOF (59.8% vs 19.0%) than Ham'sF-10 (38.3% vs 0%), Brinster (31.6% vs 0%) and m-CR1aa (36.0% vs 9.9%), respectively. The use of m-Bavister with glucose for IVC were associated with a significantly higher (p<0.05) rate of blastocyst development (25.7% vs15.7%) (Experiment 2). COCs were matured in m-SOF. The COCs were fertilized in BO or m-SOF medium for IVF (Experiment 3). The proportions of embryos cleaved and blastocysts were not significantly different (59.8 vs 70.0% and 19.0 vs 20.6%). These results indicated that TCM-199, Bavister and m-SOF are effictive media for IVM and IVC, glucose is necessary for the development of embryos in IVC media, and m-SOF is favorable to BO for IVF.