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Effect of Leptin on In Vivo Goat Embryo Production
Author(s) -
Batista AM,
Gomes WA,
Carvalho CCD,
Monteiro PLJ,
Silva FLM,
Almeida FC,
Soares PC,
Carneiro GF,
Guerra MMP
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
reproduction in domestic animals
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.546
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1439-0531
pISSN - 0936-6768
DOI - 10.1111/rda.12314
Subject(s) - leptin , embryo , in vivo , andrology , production (economics) , biology , zoology , endocrinology , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , obesity , macroeconomics , economics
Contents The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of leptin administration during superovulation on in vivo goat embryo production. Ten mature does were superovulated with 133 mg follicle‐stimulating hormone (FSH) i.m. in six descending doses at 12‐h intervals. The goats received 4.8 μg/kg human recombinant leptin s.c. (leptin group, n = 5) or phosphate‐buffered saline (PBS) (control group, n = 5) with the first and second FSH doses. The does were mated and subjected to embryo collection by transcervical technique 6 days later. The total number of cells per embryo and the number of cells with fragmented DNA were assessed in selected blastocysts by combining Hoechst 33342 and terminal d UTP nick‐end labelling (TUNEL) staining. Plasma concentrations of oestradiol (E 2 ) and progesterone (P 4 ) were determined by electrochemiluminescence from the day of FSH treatment, on the day of superovulatory oestrus and on the day before embryo collection. Compared with the control group, the does that received leptin had a higher number of transferable embryos (p < 0.005), fewer embryos classified as degenerated (p < 0.001) and fewer TUNEL‐positive cells/blastocyst (p < 0.001). The number of transferable embryos was positively correlated with E 2 concentrations on day of oestrus ( r = 0.562; p < 0.01) and P 4 concentrations on the day of embryo collection ( r = 0.912; p < 0.001). We concluded that in vivo leptin administration during FSH treatment improved embryo quality and affected ovarian steroidogenesis in superovulated goats.