in traditional medicine, mentha spicata is widely used for many diseases, especially in  digestive system. it has anti-androgenic effects thus can be used by women experiencing polycystic ovary syndrome (pcos). also, it has shown to possess antioxidant properties. although beneficial, studies have shown its detrimental effect on some tissues. the present study was carried out to determine the e...

The aim of this study was to investigate cumulus expansion, nuclear maturation and expression of connexin 43, cyclooxygenase-2 and FSH receptor transcripts in equine cumuli oophori during in vivo and in vitro maturation in the presence of equine FSH (eFSH) and precursors for hyaluronic acid synthesis. Equine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COC) were cultured in a control defined medium supplemented w...

Previous our studies have shown that CD44, the principal receptor for hyaluronan, is present on cumulus cells during oocyte maturation. Although hyaluronan-CD44 interaction has been implicated in cumulus expansion and/or oocyte maturation, the full significance of CD44 remains unknown. The objective of the present study was to further investigate the role of CD44 in cumulus expansion and oocyte...

Lower pregnancy rates of in vitro matured oocytes compared to those of in vivo stimulated cycles indicate that optimization of in vitro maturation (IVM) remains a challenge. Reduced developmental competence of in vitro matured oocytes shows that current culture systems for oocyte maturation do not adequately support nuclear and/or cytoplasmic maturation. Therefore this study evaluates the effec...

Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) for equine, such as in vitro oocyte maturation (IVM) and fertilization (IVF), has been slow with low success rates compared to other domestic species [1]. This is partly because mares are long-lived animals that gelded at an early age management [2].

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of low oxygen tension (5% CO(2) , 5% O(2) and 90% N(2) ) on in vitro oocyte maturation using defined media (0.1% polyvinyl alcohol - PVA) or 10% porcine follicular fluid (PFF)-supplemented media. To achieve this goal, oocytes were evaluated regarding cortical granules (GCs) migration, nuclear maturation and sperm penetration. Oocytes were in ...

introduction: standard concentrations of antibiotics in culture media are thought to have no detectable toxic effects on the cultured cells. since antibiotics are biologically active substances, the possibility that they interfere to some extent with cellular processes occurring in the cultured cells can not always be totally excluded. this study, therefore, was conducted to assess whether the ...

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) has been shown to facilitate the in vitro maturation of sheep oocytes, and enhance embryo's capability for further development. However, such kind of molecular mechanism has not yet been elucidated. In the present study, we investigated the effect of EGF-mediated mitogen-activated protein kinases 3 and 1 (MAPK3/1) pathway on in vitro maturation of sheep oocytes. U0...

the aim of this study was to investigate the in vitro developmental competence of isolated pre-antral follicles derived from vitrified ovaries in the presence of coenzyme q 10 (coq 10 ) . mice pre-antral follicles derived from fresh and vitrified-warmed ovarian tissues were in vitro cultured individually in α-mem medium supplemented with or without coq 10 , followed by adding human chorionic go...

BACKGROUND In assisted reproductive techniques, 85% retrieved oocytes are mature, and the rest are immature. These immature oocytes may be matured in vitro, and used in subsequent in vitro fertilization program. The purpose of this study was to determine the maturation capacity and morphology of human immature oocytes in both fresh and vitrified-thawed, in vitro matured oocytes with regard to t...