title: Effect of exposure to heatwave during blastocyst formation on reproductive performance of female rabbits.
abstract: We examined the effect of female exposure to heatwave during blastocyst formation on their reproductive performance and its effect on transcriptome in blastocyst and endometrial tissue. In this study, a total of 72 rabbit does were artificially inseminated and divided into two environmental groups 2 days later: does under conventional conditions (maintained between 14-22°C, n = 29) and does heat stressed in a climatic chamber (maintained between 32-37°C, n = 43). The heat-stressed group were kept under these conditions for 3 days and returned to conventional conditions thereafter. Five days post-insemination, 48 does were slaughtered to collect blastocyst and endometrium samples. mRNA transcripts from OCT-4, VEGF, erbB3, Ifn-ɣ, HSP70 and HSP90 were analysed by qRT-PCR. At day 12 of gestation, 24 females were examined by laparoscopy to evaluate implanted embryos and at birth the total kits born and individual weights were recorded. Results revealed no gene expression changes in blastocyst and endometrial tissue under heatwave exposure. Moreover, our results demonstrated that rabbit embryos developed from 8-16 cells to blastocyst during a heatwave did not affect implantation rates, total number of kits born and foetal losses. In summary, these results demonstrate that heatwave period is not a critical point in the reproductive performance of rabbits during blastocyst formation.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Science and Animal Technology (ICTA), Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Marco-Jiménez
authors.affiliation: Institute of Science and Animal Technology (ICTA), Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Naturil-Alfonso
authors.affiliation: Institute of Science and Animal Technology (ICTA), Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Peñaranda
authors.affiliation: Institute of Science and Animal Technology (ICTA), Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jiménez-Trigos
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Physics (U.D. Agrónomos), Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain.|Centro de Tecnologías Físicas, Unidad Asociada ICMM-CSIC/UPV, Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: García-Diego
authors.affiliation: Institute of Science and Animal Technology (ICTA), Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Vicente
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001755:Blastocyst / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D010064:Embryo Implantation / Q000502:physiology; D047108:Embryonic Development; D004717:Endometrium / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000662:veterinary; D005865:Gestational Age; D006358:Hot Temperature / Q000009:adverse effects*; D007315:Insemination, Artificial / Q000662:veterinary; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D011817:Rabbits; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger