In vitro production of horse embryos predisposes to micronucleus formation, whereas time to blastocyst formation affects likelihood of pregnancy
Kaatje D. Ducheyne
A B * , Marilena Rizzo B * , Juan Cuervo-Arango B , Anthony Claes B , Peter F. Daels A , Tom A. E. Stout B and Marta de Ruijter-Villani B C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Medical Imaging and Small Animal Orthopaedics, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
B Department of Equine Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 114, 3584 CM Utrecht, Netherlands.
C Corresponding author. Email: M.Villani@uu.nl
Reproduction, Fertility and Development 31(12) 1830-1839 https://doi.org/10.1071/RD19227
Submitted: 24 June 2019 Accepted: 2 November 2019 Published: 27 November 2019
Abstract
In vitro embryo production is an increasingly popular means of breeding horses. However, success is limited by a high incidence of early embryo loss. Although there are various possible causes of pregnancy failure, chromosomal abnormalities, including aneuploidy, are important potential contributors. This study evaluated the frequency of micronucleus formation as a proxy for aneuploidy in in vitro-produced (IVP) and in vivo-derived horse blastocysts. Associations between IVP embryo morphology, frequency of nuclear abnormalities and the likelihood of pregnancy were investigated. IVP blastocysts exhibited a higher frequency of cells with micronuclei than in vivo-derived embryos (10% vs 1% respectively; P = 0.05). This indication of chromosomal instability may explain the higher incidence of pregnancy failure after transfer of IVP embryos. However, the frequency of micronuclei was not correlated with brightfield microscopic morphological characteristics. Nevertheless, IVP embryos reaching the blastocyst stage after Day 9 of in vitro culture were less likely to yield a pregnancy than embryos that developed to blastocysts before Day 9 (27% vs 69%), and embryos that had expanded before transfer were more likely to undergo embryonic death than those that had not expanded (44% vs 10%). These findings indicate that current embryo culture conditions are suboptimal and that the speed of embryo development is correlated with pregnancy survival.
Additional keywords: aneuploidy, chromosomal instability, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, ovum pick-up.
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