WCRB2014 POSTER PRESENTATIONS (1) (335 abstracts)
Daegu University, Gyeongsan-si, Republic of Korea.
Introduction: Cryopreservation has been applied successfully in many mammalian species. Nevertheless, pig embryos have shown a reduced ability to be a lower developmental competence, because of their greater susceptibility to cryoinjuries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the survival status of vitrifiedwarmed porcine blastocysts.
Materials and methods: Forced collapse blastocoel (FBC) and non-FBC blastocysts are vitrified and concomitantly cultured in culture media which were supplemented with/without fetal bovine serum (FBS). Porcine vitrifiedwarmed embryos were examined in four different methods: group A, non-FBC and non-FBS; group B, non-FBC and FBS; group C, FBC and non-FBS; group D, FBC and FBS.
Results and discussion: After culture, differences in survival rates of blastocysts derived from vitrifiedwarmed porcine embryos were found in group AD (39.7, 56.7, 56.5 and 70.9%, respectively, P<0.05). Reactive oxygen species (ROS) level of survived blastocysts was lower in group D than that of another groups (P<0.05). Moreover, total cell number of survived blastocysts was higher in group D than that of another groups (P<0.05). Otherwise, group D showed significantly lower number of apoptotic cells than other groups (P<0.05). Taken together, these results showed that FBC and FBS treatment improves the developmental competence of vitrified porcine embryos by modulating intracellular levels of ROS and the apoptotic index during the vitrification/warming procedure. Therefore, we suggest that FBC and FBS is an effective treatment technique during the vitrification/warming procedures of porcine blastocysts.