Artesunate does not affect oocyte maturation and early embryo development of bovine.

Despite the cytotoxicity and embryotoxicity previously reported artesunate is a recommended drug to treat malaria for adults, children, and women in the first trimester of pregnancy. To address the putative effects of artesunate on female fertility and preimplantation embryo development, when the pregnancy is not detectable yet, artesunate was added to the oocyte maturation and embryo development of bovine. Briefly, in experiment 1 the cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were matured for 18 h with 0.