[Comparison of the effects of Myo-inositol alone or in combination with MEM vitamins on embryo development in Sanjabi Sheep]

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of myo-inositol alone or in combination with MEM vitamins on embryo development in sanjabi sheep. Sheep Cumulus Oocytes Complexes [COCs] were matured in vitro at 39 °C, in humidified 5% CO2 atmosphere for 22-24 h. There were three treatments, culture in synthetic oviductal fluid medium [treatment I], culture in synthetic oviductal fluid medium supplemented with1 x MEM vitamins [treatment II], culture in synthetic oviductal fluid medium supplemented with myo-inositol [treatment III], COCs were then fertilized and cultured in vitro for and days when the ratios of in vitro embryo development of the hatched blastocysts were assessed and compared with the control group. The presence of myo-inpsitol significantly improved overall morula rates [34.39%] than that of control group [24.18%], but there was no difference between myo-inositol and 1 x MEM vitamins in the percentage of embryos successfully developing to the morula stage [p<0.05]. The addition of myo-inositol improved the mean blastocyst formation compared to the oocytes matured in medium containing no MEM [control] or 1 x MEM vitamins [32.63, 13.96 and 21.06% respectively]. However, the mean percentage of cleavage rate was not substantialy different between treatments. These results suggest that adding myo-inositol to SOF medium be more beneficial for subsequent sheep embryonic development

[Effect of demecolicne treatment on the developmental competency of in vitro matured bovine oocytes]

The aim of this study was to investigate whether demecolicne treatment of matured bovine oocytes adversely affects the process of in vitro fertilization and embryo development. Bovine Cumulus Oocyte Complexes [COC's] were matured in vitro and then were randomly allocated to two treatment groups of common concentrations of demecolicne [0.05 and 0.4 micro g/ml for 30 min] and a control group. COC's were then fertilized and cultured in vitro for up to 9 days when the ratios of in vitro embryo development and the viability of the hatched blastocysts were assessed and compared with the control group [p<0.05]. The ratios of the cleavage and blastocyst formation of demecolicne treated groups [0.4 and 0.05 micro g/ml] were 68.6, 63.5% and 23.3, 32.8%, which were not significantly different from the control group [73.3, 29.0%], respectively. The results of cell-viability were also not significantly different between the control vs. treatment groups. Since the overall indices of in vitro embryo development revealed no significant difference between the demecolicne treated compared to control bovine oocytes, it seems that demecolicne treatment of matured bovine oocytes may not compromise their potency for further in vitro development