127 APOPTOSIS IN BOVINE BLASTOCYSTS FROM FIVE DIFFERENT PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

Abstract

Regulation of apoptosis may be affected by factors during preimplantation development, and this is possibly related to embryo developmental potential. Here we investigate differences in the incidence of apoptotic nuclei in Day 7 bovine blastocysts produced by two different in vivo and three different in vitro methods. In vivo embryos were produced either by a regular superovulation procedure (reg group; n = 29; Laurincik et al., 2003, Mol. Reprod. Dev. 65, 73–85), or by postponement of the LH surge (pp group; n = 35; van de Leemput et al., 2001, Therio. 55, 573–592). In vitro embryos were derived from systems using either co-culture (cc group; n = 30, Avery and Greve 2000, Mol. Reprod. Dev. 55, 438–445), or culture in synthetic oviduct fluid (SOF) with (S + group; n = 35) or without serum (S− group; n = 38; Holm et al., 1999, Theriogenology, 52, 683–700). Embryos were collected at approx. 168 h post ovulation/insemination and subjected to chromatin staining and detection of DNA degradation by TUNEL reaction. The total number of nuclei, number of nuclei displaying apoptotic morphology (+M), number of nuclei displaying TUNEL reaction (+T), and number of nuclei displaying both markers simultaneously (M&T) were scored according to J.O. Gjørret et al. (2003 Biol. Reprod. 69. in press). Only M&T nuclei were regarded as apoptotic, and +M, +T, and apoptotic (M&T) indices (%) were calculated for the trophoblast (tb), inner cell mass (i) and the total blastocysts (t) in each group. Significant differences were observed for all parameters when all groups were compared (ANOVA, P ranging from 0.024 to < 0.0001). Highest number of total nuclei were observed in the S + group, whereas the lowest indices were observed in the pp group, which had significant lower indices in the i and t than in the reg., S+ and S− groups P < 0.05; Tukey’s post test for ANOVA). Highest indices were generally observed in the S− group. The results demonstrate that not only embryo cell numbers but also incidences of apoptotic markers are affected by the mode of production. However, in Day 7 bovine blastocysts high cell number is not consistent with a low incidence of apoptosis. Even though cell numbers appeared comparable in the two in vivo groups, their incidences of apoptosis were different, and the reg group displayed indices comparable to the in vitro groups, highlighting the importance of ovulation protocols when in vivo embryos are used as reference material in general.

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