Prediction of pregnancy viability in bovine in vitro-produced embryos and recipient plasma with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

We analyzed embryo culture medium (CM) and recipient blood plasma using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) metabolomics to predict pregnancy outcome. Individually cultured, in vitro-produced (IVP) blastocysts were transferred to recipients as fresh and vitrified-warmed. Spent CM and plasma samples were evaluated using FTIR. The discrimination capability of the classifiers was assessed for accuracy, sensitivity (pregnancy), specificity (nonpregnancy), and area under the receiver operator characteristic curve (AUC). Within all IVP fresh embryos (birth rate = 52%), high AUC were obtained at birth, especially with expanded blastocysts (CM: 0.80 ± 0.053; plasma: 0.89 ± 0.034). The AUC of vitrified IVP embryos (birth rate = 31%) were 0.607 ± 0.038 (CM, expanded blastocysts) and 0.672 ± 0.023 (plasma, all stages). Recipient plasma generally predicted pregnancy outcome better than did embryo CM. Embryos and recipients with improved pregnancy viability were identified, which could increase the economic benefit to the breeding industry.