title: Effect of Linolenic acid during in vitro maturation of ovine oocytes: embryonic developmental potential and mRNA abundances of genes involved in apoptosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the effect of α-linolenic acid (ALA) on meiotic maturation, mRNA abundance of apoptosis-related (Bax and Bcl-2) molecules, and blastocyst formation in ovine oocytes.
  
  
  METHODS
  A preliminary experiment was conducted to analyze the concentration of ALA in "small" (≤2 mm) and "large" (≥6 mm) follicles using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis. The concentration of ALA in small and large follicles was determined to be in a range of 75.4 to 125.7 μM, respectively. In vitro maturation (IVM) of oocyte was then performed in presence of 0 (control), 10 (ALA-10), 50 (ALA-50), 100 (ALA-100), and 200 (ALA-200) μM of ALA. Meiotic maturation and mRNA abundance of Bax, and Bcl-2 genes was evaluated after 24 h of IVM. The embryonic cleavage and blastocyst formation following parthenogenetic activation were also determined for each group.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The highest concentration of ALA (ALA-200) decreased the oocyte maturation rate compared with the control group. Analysis of apoptosis-related genes in oocytes after IVM revealed lesser transcript abundances for Bax gene, and higher transcript abundances for Bcl-2 gene in ALA-treated oocytes as compared with the control oocytes. In term of cleavage rate (considered as 2-cell progression), we did not observe any differences among the groups. However, ALA-100 group promoted more blastocyst formation as compared with the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggested that ALA treatment during IVM had a beneficial effect on developmental competence of ovine oocytes by increasing the blastocyst formation and this might be due to the altered abundance of apoptosis-regulatory genes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal and Poultry Science, College of Aburaihan, University of Tehran, P.O. Box 11365/7117, Pakdasht, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Arash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Veshkini
authors.forename: Hooman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Asadi
authors.forename: Ali Akbar
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Khadem
authors.forename: Abdollah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mohammadi-Sangcheshmeh
authors.forename: Sina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khazabi
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aminafshar
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Deldar
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soleimani
authors.forename: Mehmet Ulas
authors.initials: MU
authors.lastname: Cinar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D047108:Embryonic Development / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D009865:Oocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D009866:Oogenesis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012756:Sheep; D017962:alpha-Linolenic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger; D017962:alpha-Linolenic Acid