DNA fragmentation in canine oocytes after in vitro maturation in TCM-199 medium supplemented with different proteins

In the present study, the effect of different protein supplementation on meiotic nuclear configuration, DNA fragmentation (TUNEL assay) and metabolic parameters of dog oocytes cultured in vitro for 72 h was investigated. TCM-199 medium was supplemented either with 0.3% bovine serum albumin (BSA) or with 10% bitch heat inactivated plasma (OBP) collected before the LH peak or with OBP collected between the LH peak and ovulation or OBP collected after ovulation. After culture, more than 70% of the cumulus-oocyte complexes cultured in plasma groups presented extensive cell expansion, while none of those cultured in BSA showed extensive expansion of the cumulus (P < 0.05). Glucose consumption and lactate production was lower (P < 0.05) in the BSA-supplemented medium than in plasma-supplemented groups. In all groups, high amounts of alanine were produced. A higher number of oocytes with DNA fragmentation were observed in the BSA group, while in the plasma-supplemented groups more oocytes presented undistinguishable nuclear material. Only a small percentage of the oocytes (7.4-12.7%) had intact DNA after culture and within these, no differences were observed between groups in number of oocytes at each chromatin configuration stage. No differences in the percentage of oocytes reaching metaphase II (MII) were observed between experimental groups. Still, only 2% of cultured oocytes reached MII, but 85.7% of these had intact DNA. Conversely, all other chromatin configurations presented a high proportion of fragmented DNA (germinal vesicle 79.8%; meiosis resumption 73.3%; unclassified 95.2%). In conclusion, a high percentage of canine oocytes that do not complete meiotic maturation to MII are degenerated, whereas a high proportion of MII oocytes have intact DNA, independently of the protein supplement used.