Effect of retinoids and growth factor on in vitro bovine embryos produced under chemically defined conditions

Experiments were conducted to investigate the beneficial effects of adding retinol (RT) and retinoic acid (RA) to bovine oocyte maturation media and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) to embryo culture under chemically-defined conditions. In Experiment 1.1, in vitro maturation (IVM) was performed in basic maturation media (bMM) and supplemented with 0.3 μM RT or 0.5 μM RA. For embryo development presumptive zygotes and embryos were placed in droplets of potassium simplex optimized medium (KSOM). Addition of RT and RA to bMM improved (p < 0.05) blastocyst formation as compared with control treatments. In Experiment 1.2, using embryos originating from oocytes previously treated with RT and RA, the presumptive zygotes were placed in droplets of KSOM and embryos (2–4 cells) in droplets of fresh KSOM supplemented or not with IGF-I. The number of 2–4-cell stage embryos developing to the blastocyst and expanded blastocyst stages were greater (p < 0.05) when embryo culture media was supplemented with IGF-I. In Experiment 2.1, IVM was conducted with bMM + FSH containing 0.3 μM RT or 0.5 μM RA. For embryo development, presumptive zygotes were placed in droplets of KSOM. Addition of RT or RA to IVM medium also enhanced (p < 0.05) blastocyst formation. The supplementation of embryo culture media with IGF-I resulted in a greater number (p < 0.05) of 2–4-cell stage embryos developing into blastocysts, expanded blastocysts and hatched blastocysts. In Experiment 2.2, using embryos originating from oocytes previously treated with RT and RA, presumptive zygotes were also placed in droplets of KSOM and embryos (2–4 cells) in droplets of fresh KSOM supplemented or not with IGF-I. The supplementation of embryo culture media with IGF-I resulted in a greater (p < 0.05) number of 2–4-cell stage embryos developing to the blastocyst, expanded blastocyst and hatched blastocyst stages.