title: Repeat ovum pick-up and in vitro embryo production from adult ewes with and without FSH treatment.
abstract: Ovum pick-up (OPU) was performed three times on adult ewes after synchronization with (n = 4) or without (n = 4) FSH treatment to investigate the effects of FSH treatment on the number of ovarian follicles, oocytes recovered, oocyte quality and development in vitro. FSH treatment increased the number of ovarian follicles (85 vs 162) and oocytes recovered (33 vs 91), although recovery rate was similar for ewes with and without FSH (91/162, 56.2% and 33/85, 38.8% respectively). Of the oocytes recovered, those classified as grades I and II were similar between ewes with (78/91, 85.7%) and without FSH treatment (27/33, 81.8%). The number of ovarian follicles was similar after repeated OPU for ewes treated with FSH, but for ewes not treated with FSH the number of ovarian follicles decreased with repeated OPU. The number of oocytes recovered decreased for FSH-treated ewes only, while the oocyte recovery rate and proportion of oocytes classified as grades I and II were not affected by repeated OPU. Oocyte cleavage (46/78, 58.9% and 19/24, 79.2%) and blastocyst formation (35/46, 76.1% and 12/19, 63.2% respectively) were similar for ewes with and without FSH treatment. The number of ovarian follicles varied between ewes (p < 0.05) although the number of oocytes recovered and oocyte development in vitro were similar between ewes.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Science, Centre for Advanced Technologies in Animal Genetics and Reproduction, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. kmorton@vetsci.usyd.edu.au
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Morton
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: de Graaf
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Tomkins
authors.forename: W M Chis
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Maxwell
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Evans
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst; D004973:Estrus Synchronization; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000662:veterinary; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D018587:Oocyte Donation / Q000662:veterinary; D009865:Oocytes / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D006080:Ovarian Follicle / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D012756:Sheep / Q000196:embryology* / Q000502:physiology; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone