Influence of media supplementation with zinc and/or thymoquinone on in vitro fertilization and mouse oocytes development

In the present study,thymoquinone (tq) and zinc were added to fertilization and embryos culture media to check if this supplementation could improve the fertilization rate and development of in vivo matured mice oocytes. the effects of ovarian side (r and l) and strain of mice (c57bl/6j and swr) on the in vitro fertilization and developmental competence of mice oocytes after in vitro fertilization were also investigated. the concentration used was 5 μg/ml for tq and zinc was and 10 μg/ml media for zinc,respectively. eighty adult female mice (40 from each strain) were used and subdivided randomly into 4 groups: group 1 was untreated (control); group 2 was for treatment with zinc; group 3 was for tq and group 4 was for combined action of zinc and tq. the results showed that fertilization rate and embryo development up to two cell stage improved when zinc was added in the culture media compared to tq alone or zinc. the mean number of fertilized oocyte was significantly (p≤0.05) increased when c57bl/6j and right ovary were used. however,the type of strain used had no effect on the embryo development,whereas the ovarian side had a significant effect on the oocyte development. to conclude fertilization rate and fertilized oocyte development were better when the medium supplemented with zinc,right ovary and c57bl/6j strain was used. copyright 2015 zoological society of pakistan.