Effective vitrification and warming of porcine embryos using a pH-stable, chemically defined medium

The use of pH-stable media would simplify embryo vitrification and the warming of porcine embryos and might facilitate the application of embryo transfer in practice. In this work, we investigated whether a pH-stable basal medium constituted of Tyrode’s lactate medium, polyvinyl alcohol, and HEPES f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2016-09, Vol.6 (1), p.33915-33915, Article 33915
Main Authors: Cuello, Cristina, Martinez, Cristina A., Nohalez, Alicia, Parrilla, Inmaculada, Roca, Jordi, Gil, Maria A., Martinez, Emilio A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/61/17
692/308/409
Embryo transfer
Embryos
Hogs
Humanities and Social Sciences
Lactic acid
Media
multidisciplinary
pH effects
Polyvinyl alcohol
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Survival
Vitrification
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Summary:The use of pH-stable media would simplify embryo vitrification and the warming of porcine embryos and might facilitate the application of embryo transfer in practice. In this work, we investigated whether a pH-stable basal medium constituted of Tyrode’s lactate medium, polyvinyl alcohol, and HEPES for buffering was suitable for porcine embryo vitrification warming in place of the conventional gas-equilibrated media. A high percentage (>90%) of embryos survived vitrification and warming in this medium, achieving in vitro survival rates similar to embryos vitrified-warmed using the conventional protocol and their fresh counterparts. The pH-stable medium did not affect the in vivo developmental competence of the vitrified-warmed embryos. A farrowing rate of 71.4% (5/7) with 10.4 ± 3.1 piglets born was obtained for the embryos vitrified and warmed in this medium and transferred to selected recipients. This medium will enable the use of simple, safe and standardized protocols for the vitrification and warming of porcine embryos for optimal embryo survival and quality when applied under field conditions. This study opens new possibilities for the widespread use of embryo transfer in pigs.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/srep33915