Immunisation against inhibin enhances follicular development, oocyte maturation and superovulatory response in water buffaloes
D. R. Li A B E , G. S. Qin C D E , Y. M. Wei C , F. H. Lu C , Q. S. Huang B , H. S. Jiang C , D. S. Shi C and Z. D. Shi A F
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A College of Animal Sciences, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
B College of Veterinary Medicine, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou 510642, China.
C Department of Animal Science, Guangxi University, Nanning 530000, China.
D Guangxi Buffalo Research Institute, Nanning 530000, China.
E These authors contributed equally to this work.
F Corresponding author. Email: zdshi@scau.edu.cn
Reproduction, Fertility and Development 23(6) 788-797 https://doi.org/10.1071/RD10279
Submitted: 26 October 2010 Accepted: 19 March 2011 Published: 7 July 2011
Abstract
This study was carried out to test the feasibility of enhancing embryo production in vivo and in vitro by immunoneutralisation against inhibin or follistatin. In Experiment 1, multi-parity buffaloes were assigned into three groups: High group (n = 8), which received one primary (2 mg) and two booster (1 mg) vaccinations (28-day intervals) with a recombinant inhibin α subunit in 1 mL of white oil adjuvant; Low group (n = 8), which received half that dose; and Control group (n = 7), which received only adjuvant. Immunisation against inhibin stimulated development of ovarian follicles. Following superovulation and artificial insemination, inhibin-immunised buffaloes had more developing follicles than the Control buffaloes. The average number of embryos and unfertilised ova (4.5 ± 0.6, n = 6) in the High group was higher (P < 0.05) than in the Control group (2.8 ± 0.6, n = 5) and was intermediate (4.1 ± 0.7, n = 7) in the Low group. The pooled number of transferable embryos of the High and Low groups (3.2 ± 0.5, n = 13) was also higher (P < 0.05) than that (1.6 ± 0.7, n = 5) of the controls. The immunised groups also had higher plasma concentrations of activin, oestradiol and progesterone. In Experiment 2, the addition of anti-inhibin or anti-follistatin antibodies into buffalo oocyte IVM maturation medium significantly improved oocyte maturation and cleavage rates following parthenogenic activation. Treatment with anti-follistatin antibody also doubled the blastocyst yield from activated embryos. These results demonstrated that immunisation against inhibin stimulated follicular development, enhanced oocyte quality and maturation competence, yielded more and better embryos both in vivo and in vitro.
Additional keywords: activin, blastocyst development, cleavage rate, embryo production, follistatin, oestradiol, progesterone.
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