Effects of Hormones on In Vitro Maturation of Cattle Oocytes

The efficiency of cattle oocyte maturation in vitro was studied in protein-free MEM-alpha with hormones and in completely definite culture medium without hormones. Oocyte capacity to develop after fertilization to the morula/blastocyst and blastocyst stages served as a criterion of effective maturation. The increase in follicle-stimulating hormone concentration in the medium by one or two orders of magnitude in comparison with the "standard" level of 1 mu g/ml deteriorated the development of embryos to the preimplantation stages. Serum gonadotropin from pregnant mares worked similarly as follicle-stimulating hormone. Oocytes that underwent maturation without hormones developed to the blastocyst stage, though the percentage of dividing embryos was significantly less and there was a trend to worse development of the embryos to the preimplantation stages.