The collection of oocytes from bovine ovaries

Various needle sizes (17- and 20-g) and aspiration pressures (25, 50, 75 and 100 mmHg) were used to aspirate a total of 5,827 ovarian follicles from bovine ovaries from a slaughterhouse source to assess the impact on the quantity and quality of recovered immature oocytes. The cumulus oocyte complexes (COC's) were graded according to the presence and consistency of cumulus cells surrounding the oocyte and the data analyzed using general linear models. Overall recovery rates and the recovery of oocytes considered viable for IVM/IVF procedures (Classes A, B and C) were both significantly higher using a 17-g needle than a 20-g needle (P < 0.01). As the vacuum pressure increased so did the recovery rate of the total number of oocytes, although the number of viable oocytes reached a maximum at a calculated vacuum pressure of 55 mmHg for the 17-g needle and 77 mmHg for the 20-g needle, with an increased incidence of denuded oocytes at higher vacuum pressures. In a second experiment conducted on 1, 473 follicles, no significant difference was found between 17-g double (flushing) and 17-g single lumen needles in the recovery rate of either the total number or number of viable oocytes when using a vacuum pressure of 50 mmHg.