title: In vitro fertilization and cleavage of bovine oocytes matured in medium supplemented with estrous cow serum.
abstract: Bovine follicular oocytes were matured in TCM 199 supplemented with: (1) fetal calf serum (FCS, 20% v/v), Luteinizing Hormone (LH, 10 ug/ml), and Estradiol-17-beta (E(2), 1 ug/ml) in Experiment 1; (2) 20% cow serum recovered at standing estrus (Experiment 2); or (3) 20% FCS (Experiment 3). Maturation, fertilization, and initial cleavage development were evaluated at 16 and 48 h after in vitro insemination. The proportions of oocytes fertilized after maturation in the presence of added hormones (78.5%, Experiment 1) or estrous serum (71.3%, Experiment 2) were significantly higher (p < 0.01) than after use of FCS alone (39.3%, Experiment 3). Cleavage of zygotes within 48 h post-insemination differed significantly (p < 0.01) between maturation treatments, 27.3%, 75.5% and 6.6% for Experiments 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Results demonstrate a beneficial influence of estrous cow serum, characterized by an elevated concentration of LH, on bovine oocyte maturation in vitro.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Animal Breeding and Genetics Veterinary University of Vienna A-1030 Vienna, Linke Bahngasse 11, Austria.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schellander
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fuhrer
authors.forename: B G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Brackett
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Korb
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schleger