Effects of essential and non-essential amino acids on in-vitromaturation, fertilization and development of immature bovine oocytes

Addition of amino acids to the culture medium is beneficial for embryonicdevelopment in many species.objective: the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of amino acids on the in vitromaturation and embryonic development of the bovine oocyte.materials and methods: bovine ovaries were collected from a local abattoir and brought intolaboratory. cumulus-oocyte complexes (cocs; n=1212) were aspirated from follicles (2-8 mm indiameter) and randomly assigned to four groups for maturation in culture: (i) basic medium aloneas control; (2) basic medium supplemented with 2% mem essential amino acids solution; (3) basicmedium supplemented with 1% mem non-essential amino acids solution; and (4) basic mediumsupplemented with 2% mem essential amino acids solution + 1% mem non-essential amino acidssolution. cocs were incubated in 1 ml maturation medium in an organ culture dish at 38.5°c in anatmosphere of 5% c02 with high humidity. after 24 h of culture, 372 oocytes were fixed todetermine maturation rate and the remaining oocytes were used for in vitro fertilization (ivf) .following 18 h of insemination, 437 oocytes were fixed and examined for fertilization and 403oocytes were further cultured.results: there were no differences in maturation rates and penetration rates among the four groups.although oocyte cleavage rates were not different in the four groups, embryo development up to the8-cell stage and blastocyst were significantly higher (p