In vitro maturation rates of canine oocytes from anoestrous bitches in simple media

Abstract - The meiotic competence of canine oocytes collected from anoestrous bitch ovaries and cultured for 72 h in different media was studied. The base culture medium was TCM 199 enriched with 10% fetal bovine serum (TCM); the effect of supplementation with EGF (50 ng·mL^-1) or ITS (insulin: 10 g·mL^-1; transferrin: 5.5 g·mL^-1; selenium: 5 g·mL^-1) was also studied. TCM was also compared to a Synthetic Oviductal Fluid (SOF). All the media contained FSH (0.1 UI·mL^-1), LH (10 UI·mL^-1), 17 -oestradiol (4 g·mL^-1) and kanamycin. Despite the anoestrous stage of the donor bitches, resumption of meiosis occurred in a high proportion of the oocytes, (mean value 77.3%). The number of oocytes showing the 'germinal vesicle breakdown' nuclear stage was not influenced by the type of the culture medium used. ITS had a positive effect on nuclear progression to later stages (from metaphase I to metaphase II); however, this effect was not statistically significant.