140 Effect of lycopene supplementation to bovine oocytes exposed to heat shock during in vitro maturation
G. Residiwati A , N. Azari-Dolatabad A , H. Tuska A , S. Sidi A B , P. Van Damme A , C. Benedetti A , A. Fernandez-Montoro A , N. Llamas-Luceno A , K. Budiono C , K. Pavani A , G. Opsomer A , A. Van Soom A and O. Bogado Pascottini A DA Ghent University, Merelbeke, Belgium
B Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria
C Gajayana University, East Java, Indonesia
D University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium
Reproduction, Fertility and Development 34(2) 308-308 https://doi.org/10.1071/RDv34n2Ab140
Published: 7 December 2021
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the IETS
We investigated the effect of the antioxidant lycopene supplemented in IVM medium (TCM-199 with 20 ng mL−1 epidermal growth factor and 50 mg mL−1 gentamycin) in a heat shock (HS) model to mimic in vivo heat stress conditions. Bovine cumulus-oocyte complexes were supplemented with 0.2 µM lycopene (or not supplemented; control) under HS (40.5°C) and non-HS (NHS; 38.5°C) during maturation. After 22 h of maturation, we evaluated the nuclear status of the oocytes (n = 851 oocytes in four replicates), the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production (n = 404 oocytes in three replicates), and the respective blastocyst development (n = 1757 oocytes in eight replicates) and quality (n = 367 blastocysts in six replicates) via differential-apoptotic staining. Data were fitted in logistic and linear regression models, and the replicates were set as a random effect. The nuclear maturation was higher in NHS (79.6 ± 2.8%) than HS control (64.7 ± 3.7%; P < 0.001). Remarkably, nuclear maturation in HS lycopene (73.4 ± 3.3%) was similar to NHS control (P = 0.78), but the maturation in HS lycopene was lower than that in NHS lycopene (85.4 ± 2.1%; P < 0.001). ROS production was lower in HS lycopene than in HS control (P = 0.009) but similar between NHS lycopene and NHS control (P = 0.9). The cleavage rates and Day 8 embryo development were reduced by HS (P = 0.001). On Day 8 of embryo development, blastocyst rate was higher for NHS lycopene (55.2 ± 4.7%) than for NHS control (44.5 ± 4.7%; P = 0.04). Under HS conditions, lycopene supplementation was able to support cleavage rates of the embryos to similar levels (76.1 ± 3.3%) as of those cultured under NHS (83.3 ± 2.5%; P > 0.1). Lycopene supplementation increased the cell number of the embryos (total cell, trophectoderm, and inner cell mass numbers) under NHS conditions (P > 0.03). The apoptotic cell ratio was lower in lycopene (NHS and HS) versus control (NHS and HS) (P > 0.04). Lycopene has the ability to scavenge oocyte ROS and improved the cleavage rate of embryos under HS conditions. However, this did not translate to higher blastocyst development, which remained lower under HS. Our study indicates that antioxidant supplementation such as with lycopene during maturation of bovine cumulus-oocyte complexes may be routinely used to improve blastocyst rate and quality under standard maturation conditions.
