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...

In the present study, we propose an alternative technique called cytoplast fusion to improve the maturation rate and developmental competence of growing oocytes collected from early antral follicles in pigs. We examined whether the fusion of a growing oocyte with the cytoplast from a fully-grown oocyte (CFR group) could better promote maturation and developmental competence of the growing oocyt...

developing a culture system for preantral follicles has important biotechnological implications due to the potential to produce a large number of oocytes for embryo production and transfer. to accomplish this goal, the present study was aimed to culture preantral follicles in the presence of different media, sera and fsh concentrations. six-week-old preantral follicles (95 ± 5 µm) were cultured...

The intent of this study was to evaluate specific technical aspects of in vitro oocyte maturation (IVM), which included container material and solvent delivery vector. Oocytes were matured in oil-free, open-well systems contained in either plastic or glass dishes and compared to control oocytes matured in media droplets on plastic dishes overlaid with mineral oil. Open-well experiments were rep...

Oocyte quality in pigs is defined as the potential of that oocyte to develop into a viable offspring. There is increasing evidence that the programming of the oocyte must be completed before leaving the ovarian follicle, including both nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation. Pig oocytes matured in vitro under basic conditions are deficient in some, as yet unidentified, cytoplasmic factors and thus ...

Background: A mouse model of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation was used to investigate the effect of pharmacological inhibition of nuclear enzyme PARP-1 on oocyte maturation, apoptotic and necrotic death, as well as DNA integrity of follicular cells. Also, the relative expression of cumulus genes (HAS2, COX2, and GREM1) associated with oocyte developmental competence was assessed. M...

Unsatisfactory reproductive performance in dairy cows, such as reduced conception rates, in addition to an increased incidence of early embryonic mortality, is reported worldwide and has been associated with a period of negative energy balance (NEB) early post partum. Typically, NEB is associated with biochemical changes such as high non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA), high β-hydroxybutyrate (β-O...

When immature bovine oocytes are released from their follicles and are cultured in standard maturation medium, they resume the first meiotic division. The alteration of basic maturation conditions can affect oocyte competence significantly, as reflected by the morula and blastocyst yield after in vitro fertilization. The conditions used from the beginning of maturation up to the blastocyst stag...

The Lidia bovine breed is the most successful cattle breed on the Iberian Peninsula, also considered a hallmark of Spanish tradition and image around the world. The aims of the study were to characterize the oocyte recovery rates and to evaluate the effect of two standard in vitro maturation protocols on oocyte maturation (cumulus expansion and nuclear maturation) and fertilization rates after ...