293 EFFECT OF DIFFERENT CONCENTRATIONS OF LH, FSH, AND E2 ON THE MATURATIONAL RATE OF INDIGENOUS SOUTH AFRICAN CATTLE OOCYTES SELECTED BY BRILLIANT CRESYL BLUE STAINING

In vitro maturation of indigenous African cattle oocytes is a major challenge even though different maturation protocols work successfully in other breeds. The objective of this study was to determine the maturation rate of indigenous South African cattle oocytes following in vitro maturation in media supplemented with different concentrations of hormones and selected using brilliant cresyl blue (BCB) staining. Indigenous cattle ovaries were collected from the slaughterhouse and then oocytes were retrieved by aspiration method. A total of 966 oocytes were exposed to 26 µM BCB stain and 700 oocytes were not exposed to the BCB stain. Thereafter, oocytes exposed to the BCB stain were grouped according to the colour of their cytoplasm BCB+ (oocytes with blue cytoplasm, low G6PDH) and BCB– (unstained oocytes, increased G6PDH). The BCB exposed (BCB+ and BCB–) and the oocytes not exposed to BCB were then randomly allocated into tissue culture medium (TCM199) + 10% (vol/vol) fetal bovine serum (FBS) supplemented with 3 different concentrations of hormones as treatments (T). The T1 group was matured in the presence of 0.5 µg mL–1 of FSH, 5 mg mL–1 of LH, and 2 µg mL–1 of E2; the T2 group was matured in the presence of 1 µg mL–1 of FSH, 6 mg mL–1 of LH, and 2.5 µg mL–1 of E2; and the T3 group was matured in the presence of 1.5 µg mL–1 of FSH, 7 mg mL–1 of LH, and 4.5 µg mL–1 of E2. For IVM, 20 to 25 COC were placed in 50-µL droplets of IVM medium containing the 3 different levels of hormones. Maturation rate of oocytes was determined by the extrusion of the first polar body after 24 h of incubation in maturation medium. Data was analysed by ANOVA using SAS with 4 replicates per treatment. Treatment 2 yielded higher maturation rate for both BCB+ (65.6%) and not exposed to BCB (60.3%) oocytes compared to T1 (22, 3.03, and 16% for BCB+, BCB–, and not exposed to BCB, respectively) and T3 (48, 2.2, and 48% for BCB+, BCB–, and not exposed to BCB respectively). However, BCB– oocytes had lower polar body extrusion for T1, T2, and T3 (3.03, 8.1, and 2.2%, respectively) compared to BCB+ oocytes (22, 65.6, and 48% for T1, T2, and T3, respectively). In conclusion, immature oocytes that were cultured into TCM199 supplemented with 10% FBS, 1 µg mL–1 of FSH, 6 mg mL–1 of LH, and 2.5 µg mL–1 of E2 showed maturation rate for BCB+ oocytes and those not exposed to BCB. Oocytes selection using BCB staining was a useful test to classify good quality cattle oocytes. Therefore, it is suggested that treatment 2 is a suitable in vitro-maturation medium to mature indigenous South African cattle oocytes.