Effect of Resveratrol on the Development of Porcine Embryos Produced In Vitro

Abstract

Abstract. The effects of resveratrol (a phytoalexin with a wide variety of pharmacological activities) on pig embryos produced by parthenogenesis and/or in vitro fertilization have been investigated. First, parthenogenetic embryos were generated and cultured in PZM-3 medium supplemented with various amounts of resveratrol (0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0 and 25 μM final concentrations). In the presence of 0.5 μM resveratrol a significantly higher percentage of parthenogenetic embryos reached the blastocyst stage by day 7 compared to non-treated control (43.5 ± 6.3% vs. 33.0 ± 5.4%; P<0.05). The total cell number of blastocysts also increased as a result of incubation with 0.5 μM resveratrol; the difference was statistically significant between treated and non-treated embryos on day 5 of culture (35.8 ± 0.9 vs. 32.1 ± 1.1; P<0.05). Resveratrol incubation affected the expression levels of apoptosis-related genes in parthenogenetic blastocysts: the level of Bax transcripts was similar but lower expression of Bcl-2 and Caspase-3 was observed in embryos treated with 0.5 μM resveratrol when compared to control blastocysts (P<0.05). The results of the TUNEL assay were similar in blastocysts developing with or without resveratrol supplementation. In addition, when embryos produced by in vitro fertilization were incubated with 0.5 μM resveratrol, the treatment led to higher frequencies of blastocyst formation (8.6% vs. 13.3%) and elevated total cell numbers (37.1 ± 2.4 vs. 43.2 ± 1.7) by the end of the 7-day culture period (P<0.05). The results indicate that 0.5 μM resveratrol during culture has a positive effect on early embryonic development of porcine embryos. Key words: Development, Embryo, Pig, Resveratrol (J. Reprod. Dev. 56: [330][331][332][333][334][335] 2010) mbryo culture is valuable in the study of preimplantation embryonic development and is indispensable for the in vitro production of transferable embryos. In spite of significant improvements in the culture conditions, the development of in vitro-produced embryos is still suboptimal [1]. Because the preimplantation embryo is extremely sensitive to environmental factors, deficiencies in culture conditions often lead to aberrant embryo development that manifest in lower frequency of blastocyst formation and lower cell numbers and can affect fetal as well as postnatal life [2]. Modifications in the culture system can potentially improve the development of the cultured embryos.Resveratrol (3,4',5-trihydroxystilbene) is a phytoalexin identified in more than 70 plant species including grapes, plums, and peanuts [3]. Its biological function is to protect the plant in case of a parasitic attack or environmental stress [4]. Originally, the search for plant-derived compounds with pharmacological properties identified resveratrol as a blocker of enzymes involved in arachidonate metabolism [5] and later, an inhibitor of partially purified kinases [6]. Based on its ability to block the cyclooxygenase COX-1 resveratrol was suggested to have anticancer properties and it was demo...

Resveratrol treatment during goat oocytes maturation enhances developmental competence of parthenogenetic and hand-made cloned blastocysts by modulating intracellular glutathione level and embryonic gene expression

“…Based on our observation it was revealed that although resveratrol treatment at the concentrations of 0.25 and 0.5 μM produce optimum effect the higher concentration of this (5 μM) has detrimental impact. This is in line with the earlier reports of dose-dependent effect exerted by resveratrol in cell proliferation [20,39] as well as mammalian embryonic development [21,24]. Supplementation of antioxidants in culture medium influences oocyte maturation and embryonic development.…”

“…SIRT1 stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis through deacetylation and activation of PGC-1α [10,36], a key controller of mitochondrial biogenesis that coactivates the nuclear respiratory factors (NRF-1 and NRF-2), which induce the transcription of genes involved in mitochondrial biogenesis [37]. The beneficial effect of resveratrol on porcine oocyte maturation and embryonic development has been reported recently [21,24]. However, no report is available on the effect of resveratrol treatment on embryonic development in goat.…”

“…So it may be inferred that supplementation of resveratrol in the IVM medium promotes cytoplasmic maturation of oocytes and increased intracellular GSH level contributed to the higher embryonic development following PA and HMC. Previously, two separate studies to find out the effect of resveratrol treatment on porcine oocyte development reported that resveratrol at the concentration of 0.5 μM [24] and 2.0 μM [21] increased the blastocyst yield following PA and IVF. The later also reported increased intracellular GSH concentration at 0.5 and 2.0 μM resveratrol-treated groups.…”

“…However, our knowledge on effects of resveratrol on livestock oocyte maturation and embryonic developmental competence is inadequate. It has been observed that resveratrol supplementation at lower concentration improved developmental potential of oocytes [21,24]. Here we investigated the effects of resveratrol on goat IVM and subsequent embryonic development after parthenogenetic activation (PA) and SCNT though hand-made cloning (HMC).…”

Effect of acteoside on the re-localization and abnormal morphology of mitochondria in porcine oocytes during in vitro maturation

“…Overproduction of ROS in oocytes during IVM causes lipid peroxidation [18] and DNA fragmentation, which affect both RNA transcription and protein synthesis [19]. It has been reported that antioxidant supplementation of the IVM medium improves the oocyte quality and embryo developmental efficiency by enhancing nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation through regulation of ROS production and gene expression [20][21][22][23]. Acteoside (verbascoside) is a typical phenylethanoid glycoside, which is extracted from various plants including Syringa vulgaris.…”