FSH Stimulation with Short Withdrawal Improves Oocyte Competence in Italian Mediterranean Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis)

The high embryo production cost in buffalo, compared to cattle, is currently the major factor limiting the commercial application of ovum pick-up and in vitro embryo production technologies. This is mainly due to the lower number of follicles that develop during each estrous cycle and consequently oocytes recovered per session. In this work, we tested two different hormonal treatments based on commercial follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and progesterone (P4) to enhance the number of follicles and competent oocytes. Furthermore, in the second experiment, we tested three different coasting times, i.e., periods between the last FSH administration and ovarian aspiration, which is known be the key period for the final oocyte maturation and competence acquisition. The results, in terms of number of aspirated follicles, oocyte quality, blastocyst yield, and superior quality blastocyst yield, allow us to suggest the use of high doses of FSH (40 mg given six times every 12 h) combined with the shorter coasting time (28–32 h) as the ideal protocol for ovarian superstimulation in buffalo.

Citation

Georgios Petrovas, Michal Andrzej Kosior, Giorgio Antonio Presicce, Marco Russo, Gianluigi Zullo, Giuseppe Albero, Serhat Alkan, Bianca Gasparrini. FSH Stimulation with Short Withdrawal Improves Oocyte Competence in Italian Mediterranean Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) Animals : an Open Access Journal from MDPI. 2020 Oct 30;10(11)

PMID: 33143113

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