A new hormonal protocol supports early development of in vitro-produced embryos after transfer to anoestrus mares.

The present study aimed to evaluate whether primed anoestrus mares are suitable recipients for embryos produced by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Anoestrus was confirmed in four mares and daily doses of oestradiol benzoate (6 mg in total) over 5 days were administered; after 3 days of rest, oral altrenogest was administered at 0.088 mg/kg and embryos (1 to 5 embryos per mare; 15 in total) were transferred 3.

Prolonged incubation of frozen-thawed equine spermatozoa for in vitro fertilization: A preliminary study using low temperature and INRA96 medium.

A protocol for conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) in horses using fresh semen has been described, using a prolonged incubation in FERT-TALP medium (22 h) at 38.2°C in the presence of penicillamine, hypotaurine and epinephrine (PHE). Our work aimed to develop a protocol that maintains quality parameters in frozen-thawed equine spermatozoa incubated for 22 h in the presence of PHE using different media (FERT-TALP and INRA96) and incubation temperatures (30 and 38.

Preovulatory follicular fluid secretome added to in vitro maturation medium influences the metabolism of equine cumulus-oocyte complexes.

Background: In vitro embryo production is a highly demanded reproductive technology in horses, which requires the recovery (in vivo or post-mortem) and in vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes. Oocytes subjected to IVM exhibit poor developmental competence compared to their in vivo counterparts, being this related to a suboptimal composition of commercial maturation media. The objective of this work was to study the effect of different concentrations of secretome obtained from equine preovulatory follicular fluid (FF) on cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) during IVM.

Characterization of preovulatory follicular fluid secretome and its effects on equine oocytes during in vitro maturation.

In vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes is clinically used in horses to produce blastocysts but current conditions used for horses are suboptimal. We analyzed the composition of equine preovulatory follicular fluid (FF) secretome and tested its effects on meiotic competence and gene expression in oocytes subjected to IVM. Preovulatory FF was obtained, concentrated using ultrafiltration with cut-off of 10 kDa, and stored at -80 °C.