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Vertebrate reproductive science and technology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

α-Tocopherol modifies the expression of genes related to oxidative stress and apoptosis during in vitro maturation and enhances the developmental competence of rabbit oocytes

M. Arias-Álvarez A F , R. M. García-García B , J. López-Tello A C , P. G. Rebollar D , A. Gutiérrez-Adán E and P. L. Lorenzo B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department Producción Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain.

B Department Fisiología, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain.

C Centre for Trophoblast Research, Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EG, UK.

D Department Producción Agraria, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica, Agroambiental y de Biosistemas, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, s/n, 28040, Madrid, Spain.

E Department Reproducción Animal, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria, Ctra de La Coruña, Km 5.9, Madrid 28040, Spain.

F Corresponding author. Email: m.arias@vet.ucm.es

Reproduction, Fertility and Development 30(12) 1728-1738 https://doi.org/10.1071/RD17525
Submitted: 11 December 2017  Accepted: 30 May 2018   Published: 3 July 2018

Abstract

The developmental competence of in vitro maturation (IVM) oocytes can be enhanced by antioxidant agents. The present study investigated, for the first time in the rabbit model, the effect of adding α-tocopherol (0, 100, 200 and 400 µM) during IVM on putative transcripts involved in antioxidant defence (superoxide dismutase 2, mitochondrial (SOD2), glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPX1), catalase (CAT)), cell cycle regulation and apoptosis cascade (apoptosis tumour protein 53 (TP53), caspase 3, apoptosis-related cysteine protease (CASP3)), cell cycle progression (cellular cycle V-Akt murine thymoma viral oncogene homologue 1 (AKT1)), cumulus expansion (gap junction protein, alpha 1, 43 kDa (GJA1) and prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (prostaglandin G/H synthase and cyclo-oxygenase) (PTGS2)) and metabolism (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD)). Meiotic progression, mitochondrial reallocation, cumulus cell apoptosis and the developmental competence of oocytes after IVF were also assessed. Expression of SOD2, CAT, TP53, CASP3 and GJA1 was downregulated in cumulus–oocyte complexes (COCs) after IVM with 100 μM α-tocopherol compared with the group without the antioxidant. The apoptotic rate and the percentage of a non-migrated mitochondrial pattern were lower in COCs cultured with 100 μM α-tocopherol, consistent with better-quality oocytes. In fact, early embryo development was improved when 100 μM α-tocopherol was included in the IVM medium, but remained low compared with in vivo-matured oocytes. In conclusion, the addition of 100 μM α-tocopherol to the maturation medium is a suitable approach to manage oxidative stress and apoptosis, as well as for increasing the in vitro developmental competence of rabbit oocytes.

Additional keywords: blastocyst rate, cell death, laboratory animal, oocyte maturation, redox status, vitamin E.


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