Coculture of bovine demiembryos prior to freezing.
Pregnancy rates after transfer of frozen/thawed bisected embryos, demiembryos, have until now been very low. In the present study it was attempted to improve the freezability rate of demiembryos by culturing them on a monolayer of bovine oviduct epithelial cells (BOEC) prior to freezing. The cultured frozen/thawed demiembryos showed a lower developmental rate than intact embryos. The pregnancy rate (23%) following transfer was not different from the pregnancy rate after transfer of unfrozen demiembryos (26%). The calving rate (4%), however, was significantly lower than the calving rate after transfer of fresh demiembryos (23%). Although the overall pregnancy rate achieved in this study was low, it can be concluded that a co-culture period upon BOEC prior to freezing does not improve the viability of frozen demiembryos.
Schmidt
M
M
Department of Clinical Studies, Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Frederiksberg, Denmark.
Smith
S D
SD
Avery
B
B
Purwantara
B
B
Greve
T
T
D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle / Q000196:embryology*; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000662:veterinary*; D046508:Culture Techniques; D004624:Embryo Transfer / Q000662:veterinary*; D005260:Female; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome / Q000662:veterinary*