The objective was to evaluate in vitro nuclear maturation and fecundation kinetics of oocytes injected into preovulatory follicles of synchronized cows using the intra-follicular oocyte injection (IFOI) technique. In experiment 1, 438 immature abattoir-bovine cumulus–oocyte complexes (COC) of grades I, II, and III were randomly allocated to 1 of 3 groups: Matvitro (n = 111), COC matured in vitro for 22 h; Matvivo20 (n = 172) and Matvivo30 (n = 155), 30 oocytes were injected into each preovulatory follicle of pre-synchronized recipients. In Matvivo20, oocytes were matured for 19.8 ± 0.1 h and in Matvivo30, for 28.3 ± 0.1 h. All cows received 12.5 mg of LH (Lutropin, Bioniche, Canada) at IFOI (Matvivo20) or 10 h after IFOI (Matvivo30). Oocytes from Matvivo20 and Matvivo30 were aspirated 20 h after LH injection for assessment of oocyte maturation and recovery rates. Oocytes were evaluated according to maturation kinetics as germinal vesicle, metaphase I, anaphase I, telophase I, metaphase II, parthenogenetically activated, and degenerated (chromosomal aberrations, presence of diffuse or indefinite chromatin). In experiment 2, immature abattoir-bovine COC (n = 202) of grades I, II, and III were randomly distributed into 2 groups: Matvitro (n = 103), COC were matured and fertilized in vitro; Matvivo (n = 99), same as Matvivo20 protocol, and COC fertilized in vitro. Presumptive zygotes were evaluated as fertilized, unfertilized, or polyspermic. Statistical analyses were performed by the GLIMMIX procedure of SAS (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA). Recovery rate was lower (P < 0.001) in Matvivo20 (52.9%, 91/172) compared with Matvivo30 (72.9%, 113/155). Germinal vesicle (P = 0.94), metaphase I (P = 0.98), anaphase I (P = 0.99), and telophase I (P = 0.20) rates were similar. However, there were differences in metaphase II [Matvitro: 81.0% (90/111)a, Matvivo20: 74.5% (35/47)a, and Matvivo30: 41.6% (32/77)b; P = 0.001], degenerate [Matvitro: 5.4% (6/111)c, Matvivo20: 21.3% (10/47)b and Matvivo30: 48.1% (37/77); P = 0.001] and parthenogenetically activated [Matvitro: 0.0% (0/111)b, Matvivo20: 0.0% (0/47)b and Matvivo30: 9.1% (7/77)a; P = 0.001]. Polyspermic (P = 0.18) and abnormal (P = 0.98) rates were similar. However, there was a higher rate (P = 0.05) of fertilized oocytes in Matvivo (60.6%, 60/99) than in Matvitro (46.6%, 48/103). In conclusion, oocyte maturation in vivo after IFOI for 20 h does not alter maturation kinetics and increases in vitro oocyte fertilization capacity. However, the 10-h increase in intra-follicular oocyte permanence decreased the proportion of viable oocytes. Thus, the oocyte maturation phase is not the limiting causative factor for the low IFOI-embryo production rates.
