Lipid droplets (LDs) are intracellular structures composed of hydrophobic lipids. Their amount in oocytes and embryos varies among the mammalian species and even among different strains of the same species. Here we describe a method to stain LDs, which can be applied to previously fixed mouse oocytes and embryos. This method is based on fluorescent dyes, Nile red and BODIPY, which allow visualization and quantification of LDs using conventional and confocal fluorescence microscopy.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2675-7_16 | DOI Listing |
BMJ
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine and Offspring Health, Centre for Reproductive Medicine, Institute of Women, Children and Reproductive Health, Shandong University, Jinan, China
Objective: To test the hypothesis that a freeze-all strategy would increase the chance of live birth compared with fresh embryo transfer in women with low prognosis for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment.
Design: Pragmatic, multicentre, randomised controlled trial.
Setting: Nine academic fertility centres in China.
Theriogenology
January 2025
Department of Theriogenology and Biotechnology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, 08826, Seoul, Republic of Korea. Electronic address:
Follicular fluid-derived meiosis-activating sterol (FF-MAS), an intermediate in the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway, plays a crucial role in the meiotic resumption of mammalian oocytes. Maintaining a high concentration of FF-MAS in vitro is challenging; therefore, AY9944 A-7, an inhibitor of Δ14-reductase [which converts FF-MAS to testis meiosis-activating sterol (T-MAS)] and Δ7-reductase (which converts T-MAS to cholesterol), has been used to enhance oocyte maturation. This study examined the effects of various concentrations (0, 10, 20, and 40 μM) of AY9944 A-7 on porcine oocyte maturation and subsequent embryo development.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFReprod Domest Anim
February 2025
Veterinary Embryology Laboratory, Professional School of Veterinary Medicine, Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco, Sicuani-Cusco, Peru.
Currently, incubators with a time-lapse system are widely used for in vitro embryo production in several species, however, their effect on alpaca embryo development compared to conventional incubators remains unknown. The aim of this study was to compare early in vitro embryo development in alpacas using a time-lapse incubator system versus a conventional incubator. Ovaries were obtained from a slaughterhouse and 1048 cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were collected and in vitro matured for 26 h in either a time-lapse system (n = 542) or a conventional incubator (n = 542).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFront Endocrinol (Lausanne)
January 2025
Reproductive Medicine Center, Sichuan Provincial Women's and Children's Hospital, The Affiliated Women's and Children's Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China.
Background: Growth hormone (GH) could improve the outcomes of fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) in patients with decreased ovarian reserve (DOR), but which age group will benefit the most has remained controversial. This study aims to explore the outcome of IVF-ET among differently aged patients with DOR treated with GH.
Methods: A total of 846 patients with DOR undergoing IVF-ET from May 2018 to June 2023 at the Reproductive Medicine Center of Sichuan Provincial Women's and Children's Hospital were prospectively enrolled.
JDS Commun
January 2025
Department of Animal Sciences and D.H. Barron Reproductive and Perinatal Biology Research Program, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-0910.
Pharmacological elevation of cyclic AMP (cAMP) of cultured cumulus-oocyte complexes (COC) before or coincident with initiation of maturation has been reported to improve outcomes for various systems for in vitro production of embryos. Here it was hypothesized that artificial elevation of cAMP in the oocyte for a 2-h period of prematuration would improve developmental competence of matured oocytes and result in increased blastocyst yield and altered expression of genes important for embryonic differentiation. Treated COC were cultured for 2 h with dibutyryl cAMP (dbcAMP), a membrane-permeable form of cAMP, and 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX), which inhibits phosphodiesterases that convert cAMP to ATP.
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