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Pyruvate prevents peroxide‐induced injury of in vitro preimplantation bovine embryos
Author(s) -
Morales H.,
Tilquin P.,
Rees J.F.,
Massip A.,
Dessy F.,
Van Langendonckt A.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
molecular reproduction and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.745
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1098-2795
pISSN - 1040-452X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1098-2795(199902)52:2<149::aid-mrd5>3.0.co;2-4
Subject(s) - biology , embryo , in vitro , blastocyst , andrology , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , embryogenesis , medicine
The impact of oxidative stress on the in vitro development of bovine embryos in synthetic oviduct fluid medium (mSOF) was assessed by using H 2 O 2 as a stress inducer. In a preliminary experiment, a chemiluminescent method was used to measure the antioxidative capacity of the mSOF culture medium. Pyruvate was the mSOF component displaying the highest H 2 O 2 degrading ability. Essential and nonessential amino acids also significantly reduced the H 2 O 2 concentration, whereas lactate and glutamine were ineffective. The effect on further development of a short exposure of zygotes, 9–16‐cell stage embryos and blastocysts to 0 M; 10 − 7 M ; 10 − 6 M, and 10 − 5 M H 2 O 2 in pyruvate‐free mSOF was evaluated. Developmental rates of the H 2 O 2 ‐treated zygotes to the 5–8‐cell or blastocyst stages and survival of H 2 O 2 ‐treated blastocysts were reduced in a dose‐dependent manner whereas the 9–16‐cell embryos were unaffected by those treatments. Blastocysts treated with H 2 O 2 also tended to have lower numbers of bisbenzimide‐stained nuclei and showed increased nuclear fragmentation. Including pyruvate in the mSOF culture medium during a 10 − 5 M H 2 O 2 pulse highly reduced the H 2 O 2 concentration as measured by chemiluminescence and improved zygote and blastocyst development, but failed to prevent blastocyst nuclei degradation. These experiments suggest that bovine embryos show developmental change in sensitivity to exogenous H 2 O 2 , the 9–16‐cell embryos being more resistant than zygotes and blastocysts and that H 2 O 2 and its toxic effects can be attenuated by including pyruvate in the medium. Mol. Reprod. Dev. 52:149–157, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.