Premium
L ‐carnitine improves hydrogen peroxide‐induced impairment of nuclear maturation in porcine oocytes
Author(s) -
Yazaki Takako,
Hiradate Yuki,
Hoshino Yumi,
Tanemura Kentaro,
Sato Eimei
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
animal science journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.606
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1740-0929
pISSN - 1344-3941
DOI - 10.1111/asj.12016
Subject(s) - oxidative stress , hydrogen peroxide , chemistry , oocyte , carnitine , lipid peroxide , andrology , medicine , lipid peroxidation , endocrinology , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , embryo , biology
We investigated the effect of oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide ( H 2 O 2 ) on lipid peroxide ( LPO ) level and nuclear maturation in porcine oocytes cultured with or without cumulus cells. After 22 h of pre‐culture, oocytes with attached cumulus cells ( COC group) or denuded oocytes ( DO group) were cultured with H 2 O 2 , and intra‐oocyte H 2 O 2 and LPO levels were quantitatively analyzed using immunofluorescence. This is the first report evaluating LPO levels in porcine oocytes. After H 2 O 2 supplementation, the DO group showed severe accumulation of H 2 O 2 and LPO in the oocytes. Similarly, while inhibition of progression of nuclear maturation was observed in both groups, the effect was more severe in the DO group. These results demonstrate that cumulus cells reduce the accumulation of H 2 O 2 stress in oocytes. Furthermore, we attempted to reduce the oxidative stress by H 2 O 2 with L ‐carnitine, a H 2 O 2 scavenger. L ‐carnitine decreased H 2 O 2 and LPO levels in the oocytes in both groups, and improvement in the progression of impaired nuclear maturation was observed. These effects were different by the presence of cumulus cells. Our results provide that L‐carnitine is useful for alleviating H 2 O 2 ‐induced oxidative stress by reducing LPO levels and improving the progression of nuclear maturation.