Reproduction Abstracts

Introduction: Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) is a signaling molecule derived from phospholipid known to have biological activities such as stimulating proliferation and differentiation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of LPA on IVM of porcine oocytes and subsequent embryonic development after IVF and parthenogenetic activation (PA).Methods: We examined nuclear maturation, intracellular GSH and ROS levels and subsequent embryonic deve...

Introduction: We recently demonstrated that in vitro maturation (IVM) is associated with defects in histone H4 lysine 16 (H4K16) acetylation in horse oocytes, together with a higher incidence of spindle anomalies and aneuploidy. In the present study we investigated whether maturation conditions can alter the abundance of transcripts involved in histone acetylation and deacetylation. The specific H4K16 acetyl-transferase Myst1, the general acetyl-transferase <...

The seminal vesiculitis leads to contamination of the semen with inflammatory cells, causing agglutination, precipitation, decreased sperm motility and increased reactive oxygen species (ROS). This deleterious effect is most pronounced during the cryopreservation process. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of frozen semen from stallions with seminal vesiculitis after local treatment. Five stallions with seminal vesiculitis were used and local treatmen...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects over 5% of women of reproductive age. It is associated with an ovulatory infertility, menstrual disturbances as well as metabolic abnormalities including obesity and insulin resistance. PCOS has a strong genetic basis but studies of ovarian gene expression in PCOS are limited by the difficulty in obtaining tissue samples from women with and without PCOS. For that reason, most studies have been performed in granulosa–lutein (GL) cel...

This work was aimed at localizing and evaluating the expression of endogenous hypoxia markers in the porcine oviduct. Oviduct samples were obtained from reproductive tracts of sows (n=20) in the slaughterhouse. Upon visual inspection of the ovary the samples were allocated into late follicular (LF), early luteal (EL) and late luteal (LL) phases of the estrous cycle. Ampulla and isthmus sections were stained against the following specific primary antibodies: HIF2α, VEGF, F...

Introduction: Neonatal bisphenol A (BPA) exposures affect the developing reproductive tract of females, several distinct stages of oogenesis in the developing ovary. Notch signaling also plays an important role during oogenesis. We aimed to explain whether mRNA levels of Notch receptor and ligands are altered following BPA treatment during neonatal days in vitro.Materials and methods: Wistar rats were sacrificed and ovaries were isolated on post...

Introduction: Androgens: testosterone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and a fungicide with antiandrogenic activity – vinclozolin (Vnz) served to study agonism and antagonism of the androgen receptor.Material and methods: Granulosa cells (GC) isolated from pig follicles were cultured for 48 h with testosterone (10−7 M), DHT (10−7 M), and Vnz (1.4×10−5 M) separately or in combinations. Cells were the...

Introduction: The molecular mechanisms involved in regulating growth of small, gonadotrophin-independent follicles are poorly understood. We have previously shown that the canonical TGFβ signalling intermediate, Smad3 is highly expressed in granulosa cells (GCs) of single-layered follicles. Furthermore, a reduction in the overall expression of Smad3 is associated with the onset of multi-layering and increased granulosa cell proliferation, suggesting modulation of TGF&#946...

Introduction: Proper interactions between uterus and conceptuses are necessary for establishment of pregnancy and implantation. Key factors in these regulations are prostaglandins (PGs). Recently we presented an important role of prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) and its receptor (PTGFR) in porcine endometrium during early pregnancy. The aim of present study was to determine whether PGF2α can regulate the endometrial and embryonic expression of biglycan (BGN), metallopr...

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 vitrified–warmed porcine blastocysts.Materials and methods: Forced collapse blastocoel (FBC) and non-FBC blastocysts are vitrified and concomitantly cul...