Influence of “Solcoseryl” during culture on the sex‐dependent repair of bovine demi‐embryos

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of culture conditions on the development of split embryos after bisection and on the sex ratio of resultant bovine demi‐embryos. Embryos that had developed into blastocysts on days 6½ to 7 or on days 7½ to 8 from oocytes matured and fertilized in vitro were bisected in BMOC‐3 medium supplemented with 33% calf serum. The medium also contained 0%, 0.1% or 1.0% Solcoseryl, a deproteinized hemodialysate product from calf blood. The demi‐embryos were first cultured for 4 hours in the same medium in which they had been bisected and then co‐cultured with cumulus cells in TCM199 supplemented with 1% calf serum for an additional 20 hr. The rate of production of good to excellent quality demi‐embryos obtained from days 6½ to 7 blastocysts was higher than from those on days 7½ to 8. The rate was also significantly improved when blastocysts were bisected in medium containing 0.1% or 1.0% Solcoseryl, compared to the medium without Solcoseryl. Male embryos seemed to recover more rapidly than female embryos, as assessed by morphological quality at 4 hr, although the quality of female embryos had improved by 24 hr. The percentage of males after culture was higher in the medium without Solcoseryl than in its presence. Thus, addition of Solcoseryl at either 0.1% or 1.0% to BMOC‐3 medium seemed to improve the production efficiency of good quality demi‐embryos, but did not influence the sex ratio. It appears as if female demi‐embryos required more time than male embryos to be repaired after bisection. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.