Semina: Ciências Agrárias (Oct 2019)

Goat incubator: Can bovine oocytes be matured in the uterine horn of a goat?

  • Jeferson Fereira da Fonseca,
  • Ribrio Ivan Tavares Pereira Batista,
  • Juliane Teramachi Trevizan,
  • Joanna Maria Gonçalves Souza-Fabjan,
  • Felipe Zandonadi Brandão,
  • Luiz Sérgio Almeida Camargo

DOI
https://doi.org/10.5433/1679-0359.2019v40n6Supl3p3789
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 40, no. 6Supl3

Abstract

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We used a goat as a live incubator, along with associated nonsurgical embryo transfer techniques, to perform ex situ (in vivo) maturation of bovine oocytes. Immature bovine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) aspirated from 3-8 mm follicles from slaughterhouse ovaries were randomly split into two groups for in vitro (IVM; n = 38) and ex situ maturation (ESM; n = 40). IVM was performed for a period of 24 h at 38.5 ºC and with 5% CO2 in the air of maximum humidity. For ESM, a presynchronized nulliparous goat (12 months old) received 40 immature COCs in the uterine horn apiece, via the transcervical route. After 24 h the structures were retrieved through uterine flushing. Analyses of nuclear maturation and lipid quantification were performed on oocytes from both groups. Fluorescent intensity was compared using the Student’s t-test. Forty-seven percent of the structures were recovered after uterine flushing (19/40). The nuclear maturation rate was 94.5% (18/19) and 81.6% (31/38) for the ESM and IVM groups, respectively. In vitro-matured COCs contained more lipid droplets, expressed as a higher amount (p < 0.05) of emitted fluorescent light than ex situ-matured COCs (858 ± 73 vs. 550 ± 64 arbitrary fluorescence units, respectively). This is the first report to associate nonsurgical embryo transfer techniques and a goat as a live incubator for the maturation of bovine oocytes. We conclude that bovine oocytes can progress meiotically in the uterus horn of a goat and that transcervical transfer of bovine oocytes to a goat’s uterus could present an alternative to nuclear maturation.

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