Crocin supplementation during oocyte maturation enhances antioxidant defence and subsequent cleavage rate

Abstract

Contents The purpose of the present study was to assess the effect of crocin supplementation during oocyte maturation on the antioxidant defence and anti‐apoptotic ability and subsequent developmental competence of porcine oocytes. Oocytes were cultured in media containing 0, 300, 400 or 500 µg/ml of crocin. Upon maturation, the maturation rates, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and glutathione (GSH) levels, mRNA expression of genes (SOD, CAT, GPx, Bcl‐2, BAX and Caspase3), expression of cleaved caspase3 and subsequent embryo cleavage rates were measured. Results indicated that the maturation rate of the 400 µg/ml group was 86.80% (p < 0.01). The ROS concentration of the 500 µg/ml group was the lowest (p < 0.01). The GSH concentration of the 400 µg/ml group was the highest (p < 0.01). The SOD, CAT and GPx mRNA expression levels were the highest in the 300, 400 and 500 µg/ml groups, respectively, with the expression levels of all genes being significantly higher than that of the control group (p < 0.01). The Bcl‐2/BAX mRNA expression ratio in 400 and 500 µg/ml groups significantly higher than other groups and significantly decreased caspase3 expression level (p < 0.01). The expression level of cleaved caspase3 in the 500 µg/ml treatment group was the lowest, significantly lower than that of the control group (p < 0.01). The cleavage rate of the 400 µg/ml group was 62.50% (p < 0.01). These experimental results show that the supplementation of in vitro culture medium with 400 µg/ml of crocin significantly enhanced the antioxidant defence and anti‐apoptotic ability and subsequent cleavage rate of porcine embryo.

N-(2-mercaptopropionyl)-glycine enhances in vitro pig embryo production and reduces oxidative stress

“…In pigs, it has been reported that supplementation with different antioxidants, such as crocin 26 , sphingosine-1-phosphate 27 or melatonin 28 , during in vitro maturation culture improved the cleavage rates. Nevertheless, when supplementation was performed exclusively during embryo culture, the cleavage rate was not affected 9 , 11 .…”

Enhancing in vitro oocyte maturation competence and embryo development in farm animals: roles of vitamin-based antioxidants – A review

“…It has many biological and therapeutic activities, as it can act as an antioxidant, inflammatory, immunomodulatory agent, in addition to its ability to control cell proliferation and autoimmune diseases (Alaluf et al, 2002;Naess et al, 2007;Mostafavinia et al, 2016;Gholamnezhad et al, 2013). Recently, Chen et al (2019) evaluated the effect of crocin addition into maturation medium during porcine IVM and IVF. Supplementation with 400-500 µg/mL crocin during oocyte maturation increased the maturation rate (86.8% vs. 72.8%), cleavage rate (62.50% vs. 53.33%), glutathione (GSH) levels, and the transcription of antioxidant-related genes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutation peroxidase (GPx).…”

Bioguided isolation of compounds with antioxidant activity to improve the in vitro maturation of mammalian oocytes

“…In IVM studies with oocytes, the compounds, with antioxidant potentials, are the most explored because of the desire to supplement the in vitro culture media to reduce the oxidative stress (Santos et al, 2018). Therefore, several bioguided studies have been developed over the years to reduce the negative effects caused by oxidative stress, thus increasing efficiency and productivity, linked to the technique ( Table 1) Another characteristic, found in the bioguided studies with antioxidants in IVM, would be the investigation of the most abundant antioxidant molecules present in the extracts and oils (Nie et al, 2020;Chen et al, 2019;Mesalam et al, 2017). In all the works, the studied molecules were the most abundant components of their plant extracts and all yielded positive results, by increasing the rates of IVM and embryonic development in addition to decreasing cell apoptosis in different species.…”