154 THE EFFECT OF ZINC ON PORCINE IN VITRO MATURATION AND SUBSEQUENT EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT AFTER IN VITRO FERTILIZATION

Abstract

Zinc (Zn) is one of the abundant transition metals in biology and is an essential component of most cells. However, there are few reports about the effect of Zn in porcine oocytes. The objective was to investigate the effects of supplementary Zn during in vitro maturation (IVM) of porcine oocytes. We investigated nuclear maturation, intracellular glutathione (GSH) levels, reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and subsequent embryonic development after IVF. Before the experiment, Zn concentrations in IVM medium and body fluids were measured using inductively coupled plasma spectrophotometer (sensitivity: 1 μM) and treatment concentrations were determined. Zinc concentration was 12.6 μM in porcine plasma and 12.9 μM in porcine follicular fluid. We confirmed that Zn was not detected in IVM medium. A total of 541 cumulus–oocyte complexes (COC) were used for the evaluation of nuclear maturation. The COC were matured in TCM-199 medium supplemented with various concentrations of Zn (0, 6, 12, 18, and 24 μM). After 44 h of IVM, no significant difference was observed in all groups (metaphase II rate: 85.7, 88.7, 90.4, 90.3, and 87.2%, respectively). A total of 100 matured oocytes were examined for the effects of different Zn concentrations (0, 6, 12, 18, and 24 μM) on porcine oocyte intracellular GSH and ROS levels, which were measured through fluorescent staining and image analysis program. The groups of 12, 18, and 24 μM showed a significant (P < 0.05) increase in intracellular GSH levels (1.45, 1.67, and 1.78, respectively) compared with the control and 6 μM group (1.00 and 1.08, respectively). The intracellular ROS level of oocytes matured with 12, 18, and 24 μM (0.82, 0.68, and 0.55) were significantly (P < 0.05) decreased compared with the control and 6 μM groups (1.00 and 1.03, respectively). Finally, the developmental competence of oocytes matured with different concentrations of Zn (0, 6, 12, 18, and 24 μM) was evaluated after IVF. There were no significantly different in cleavage rates. However, cleavage patterns and blastocyst (BL) formation were different. Fragmented embryo ratio of the 12 μM group (14.9%) was significantly lower than that of the other groups (control, 6, 18, and 24 μM: 26.4, 17.8, 18.4, and 18.0%, respectively). Oocytes treated with 12 μM Zn during IVM had a significantly higher BL formation rate (28.2%) after IVF compared with the control (19.8%). In conclusion, these results indicate that Zn treatment as body fluid concentration during IVM improved the developmental potential of IVF in porcine embryos by increasing the intracellular GSH concentration and decreasing the ROS level.

This work was supported, in part, by a grant from the Next-Generation Bio Green 21 Program (No. PJ00956901), Rural Development Administration, and the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (NRF-2012R1A1A4A01004885, NRF-2013R1A2A2A04008751), Republic of Korea.