Assisted reproductive technologies in the reproductive management of small ruminants

Cryopreservation of Sheep Produced Embryos – Current and Future Perspectives

“…There are several techniques of oocyte collection, namely, follicular aspiration or ovary slicing in abattoirderived ovaries [110,111] and ovum pick-up systems applied in living animals. Ovary slicing technique provides cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) of better quality and the number of harvested oocytes collected is higher compared to follicle aspiration [110,112]. Sheep ovum pick-up systems are applied in living animals using minimal invasive procedures such as laparoscopic ovum pick-up (LOPU) technique guided by laparoscopy [113][114][115].…”

“…This quality depends on the competence of the oocyte to complete meiosis, which is affected by the follicle size [35]. It is also clearly established that prepubertal oocytes do not have the developmental potential of those collected from adult ewes [118], although, in the future, the results obtained with juvenile oocyte collection could have potential interest for decreasing half the generation interval in genetic programs [112].…”

“…IVM is usually performed at 38-39°C in a humidified atmosphere in air and 5% CO 2 [8,18,50,112]. Tissue Culture Medium (TCM199) supplemented with bicarbonate, pyruvate, LH, FSH, and estradiol (E 2 ) and with 10% fetal calf serum [10,101] or 10% estrous sheep serum [50,122] is the widest used medium for IVM.…”

“…IVC, on the contrary, is achieved in a controlled atmosphere at 38.5-39°C with 5% O 2 , 5% CO 2 , and 90% N 2 . This medium is usually composed of synthetic oviductal fluid supplemented with amino acids, bovine serum albumin (BSA), and/or serum [112,122], although the use of some media with oviduct cells or fetal fibroblasts was also reported [138]. In this stage, it is important to keep an oxygen low concentration to prevent oxidation [139] and the deleterious effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS).…”

CIDR and Ultrasound-Fetometry Scan; Comparative Study Between Sheep and Goat in Egypt

“…Reproductive performance including ovulation, fertilization, implantation, gestation and parturition is affected by environmental, health, management and genetic factors. Efforts are continuously paid to improve the fertility rates of sheep and goat through the assisted reproductive technologies (ART) such as estrus synchronization and diagnosis of early pregnancy diagnosis and gestational age by ultrasonography (Amiridis and Cseh, 2012). Estrus synchronization depends on either extending the luteal lifespan with exogenous progesterone (P4) or by inducing premature luteolysis using prostaglandin F2α (PGF2α) (Wildeus, 2000).…”