Effects of oocyte quality, incubation time and maturation environment on the number of chromosomal abnormalities in IVF-derived early bovine embryos

Chromosomal aberrations are one of the major causes of embryo developmental failures in mammals. The occurrence of these types of abnormalities is higher in in vitro-produced (IVP) embryos. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of oocyte morphology and maturation conditions on the rate of chromosomal abnormalities in bovine preimplantational embryos. To this end, 790 early cattle embryos derived from oocytes with different morphologies and matured under different conditions, including maturation period (24 v. 36 h) and maturation media (five different serum supplements in TCM-199), were evaluated cytogenetically in three sequential experiments. The rates of normal diploidy and abnormal haploidy, polyploidy and aneuploidy were determined in each embryo. Throughout all the experiments, the rate of chromosomal abnormalities was significantly (P < 0.05) affected by oocyte morphology and maturation conditions (maturation time and culture medium). Lower morphological quality was associated with a high rate of chromosome abnormalities (P < 0.05). Moreover, polyploidy was associated with increased maturation time (P < 0.01), whereas the maturation medium significantly (P < 0.05) affected the rates of haploidy and polyploidy. In general, supplementing the maturation medium with oestrous cow serum or fetal calf serum resulted in higher rates of chromosomal aberrations (P < 0.05) compared with the other serum supplements tested (bovine steer serum, anoestroues cow serum, bovine amniotic fluid and bovine serum albumin). On the basis of the results of the present study, we conclude that the morphological quality of oocytes and the maturation conditions affect the rate of chromosomal abnormalities in IVP bovine embryos.