Revista de la Sociedad Científica del Paraguay (Dec 2019)

Analysis of the activity of oncocalyxone A (Auxemma oncocalyx) and doxorubicin on the in vitro development of porcine oocytes

  • Johanna Leiva Revilla,
  • Carolina Maside,
  • Luis Vieira,
  • Jesús Cadenas,
  • Ana Clara Ferreira Acioly,
  • Victor Macedo Paes,
  • Francisco Leo Agiar,
  • Juliana Jales de Hollanda Celestino,
  • Benner Geraldo Alves,
  • Otilia Deusdenia Loiola Pessoa,
  • Ricardo Toniolli,
  • Ana Paula Rodrigues,
  • José Ricardo de Figueiredo

DOI
https://doi.org/10.32480/rscp.2019-24-2.274-292
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 24, no. 2
pp. 274 – 292

Abstract

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Most anticancer drugs like doxorubicin (DXR) have low specificity that results in undesirable effects especially when it comes to collateral effects on reproduction. Plants are excellent sources when searching for new drugs. Auxemma oncocalyx (A. oncocalyx) and its main component Oncocalyxone A (onco A) have anti-tumoral activity and are less toxic than DXR in reproductive parameters. However, there are no studies on the action of these drugs regarding the porcine in vitro oocyte competence and embryo development. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of A. oncocalyx and onco A exposure during in vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes (Experiment 1) or in vitro embryo culture (IVC) (Experiment 2) on the oocyte developmental competence. For experiment 1, COCs were distributed in IVM medium alone (control) or supplemented with DXR (0.3 g/mL), A. oncocalyx (1.2 g/mL) and onco A (1 g/mL). Then, oocytes were submitted to in vitro fertilization (IVF) and in vitro embryo culture. For experiment 2, zygotes were cultured with DXR, A. oncocalyx and onco A for 7 days. Viability, maturation, fertilization and embryo developmental parameters were evaluated in both experiments. In experiment 1; DXR, A. oncocalyx and onco A reduced (P<0.05) oocyte viability and IVM efficiency. Onco A increased (P<0.05) the meiotic resumption. After IVF, all drugs reduced (P<0.05) viability, IVF efficiency and percentage of cleaved embryos, nevertheless, only DXR decreased the percentage of blastocyst. In experiment 2; all drugs reduced (P<0.05) the percentage of penetration, but only DXR and onco A decreased (P<0.05) IVF efficiency. DXR and A. oncocalyx decreased (P<0.05) the percentage of cleaved embryo, but had no effect on blastocyst formation. In conclusion, the addition of DXR during IVM or IVC negatively affected the IVF efficiency and cleavage rate. In addition, the exposure of COCs to DXR only during IVM was more detrimental to oocyte viability and blastocyst formation than A. oncocalyx and onco A.

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