Developmental capacity in vitro of prepubertal oocytes

A 2-year comparative study was carried out to evaluate the effect of ovary size, follicle size and oocyte quality of 3-month-old Simmental calves and the efficiency of using calf ovaries in an in vitro fertilization (IVF) programme. We evaluated the effects of different concentrations of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and oestradiol-17 beta (E-17 beta) in the maturation medium on the in vitro development of calf oocytes into morula and blastocysts. The proportion of recovered oocytes (62.1%; 42.8%. 25.3%) and the percentage of good quality cumulus oocyte complexes (84.2%: 59.8%; 45.9%) decreased significantly (P < 0.01) with decreasing ovary size (L, M and S). The rates of two or more cells on Day 2 and of blastocysts on Day 7 and Day 9 were significantly lower (P < 0.01) for calf oocytes (61.5%; 18.9%; 15.9%) compared with those from sexually matured females (70.1%; 32.3%; 22.2%). Calf oocytes, matured in medium supplemented with 20 mug/ml or 10 mug/ml FSH plus 2 mug/ml E-17 beta had higher rates of cleavage on Day 2 (64.1% and 64.7%) and blastocysts on Day 7 (24.5% and 22.4%) than the control supplemented with 10 mug/ml FSH (55.6% and 19.2%, respectively). Groups supplemented with 20 mug/ml FSH plus 2 mug/ml E-17 beta and 10 mg/ml plus 4 mg/ml E-17 beta showed a significantly lower developmental rate of blastocysts on Day 7 (14.6% and 14.5%). High concentrations of E-17 beta (4 mug/ml) resulted in a significantly lower development of blastocysts on Day 9 (8.1%) and hatched blastocysts on Day 13 (3.5%) (P < 0.01). We conclude that the proportion of calf oocytes obtained from immature animals and their suitability for IVF are lower than those of cows. Thus, the use of oocytes from sexually immature females would decrease the relative efficiency of IVF programmes. Supplementation with high concentrations of FSH can improve the maturation and developmental capacity of oocytes from prepubertal calves.