In vitro-produced horse embryos exhibit a very narrow window of acceptable recipient mare uterine synchrony compared with in vivo-derived embryos
Juan Cuervo-Arango
A B , Anthony N. Claes A and Tom A. E. Stout A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Department of Equine Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Yalelaan 112, 3584 CM Utrecht, Netherlands.
B Corresponding author. Email: j.cuervo-arangolecina@uu.nl
Reproduction, Fertility and Development 31(12) 1904-1911 https://doi.org/10.1071/RD19294
Submitted: 19 July 2019 Accepted: 11 September 2019 Published: 7 October 2019
Abstract
In recent years, the number of equine in vitro-produced embryos (IVP) has increased markedly; as yet, there are few reports on what constitutes an ‘ideal’ recipient for an IVP embryo. This study retrospectively investigated the effects of recipient mare oestrous cycle characteristics on the likelihood of pregnancy after transfer of IVP (n = 264) and in vivo-derived embryos (n = 262). IVP embryos tolerated only a narrow window of recipient mare ‘synchrony’, with transfer on Day 4 after ovulation resulting in a higher likelihood of ongoing pregnancy (69%) than transfer on Days 3, 5 or 6 (53.2%, 41.3% and 23.1% respectively; P = 0.02). In contrast, Day 8 in vivo-derived embryos tolerated a wide range of uterine (a)synchrony, with no difference in pregnancy or pregnancy loss for recipients that ovulated between Day 4 and Day 9 before transfer. However, transferring in vivo-derived embryos to recipients that had a longer oestrus preceding transfer resulted in higher Day 12 and ongoing pregnancy rate (P < 0.01). This effect was not significant in IVP embryos. In conclusion, Day 6–8 IVP blastocysts survive best after transfer to Day 4 recipient mares; Day 8 in vivo-derived embryos survive equally well in Day 4–9 recipients, but do better in mares that have a long preceding oestrus.
Additional keywords: mare, recipient synchrony, ICSI, embryo
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