Effects of heavy ion irradiation, FSH/LH ratio and sodium pyruvate concentration on the in vitro maturation f sheep oocytes

This project evaluated the different effects of heavy-ion irradiation, the ratio of FSH/LH, and sodium pyruvate concentration on the in vitro maturation (IVM) sheep oocytes. Results showed that irradiation with 1.0 and 1.5 Gy could significantly improve IVM of sheep oocytes compared with the unirradiated control (p<0.05). Addition with 10 μg/ml FSH and 10 μg/ml LH (1 : 1, Ⅱ group) in the maturation medium resulted in the highest of IVM compared with Ⅰ group (1 : 2) , Ⅲ group (1 : 2) (p<0.05) and Ⅳ (5 : 1) group (p<0.01). IVM rate of the maturation medium with 0.2 g/L of sodium pyruvate was significantly higher than that with 0.1 g/L (p<0.05), 0.4 g/L (p<0.01), 0.6 g/L (p<0.01) and the control group (p<0.01). These data indicated that the heavy-ion irradiation to sheep oocytes with 1.0 and 1.5 Gy significantly promoted its maturation, and exposure to maturation medium with FSH and LH for 10 μg/ml (1 : 1) resulted in optimum maturity and the best maturing rate with 0.2 g/L of sodium pyruvate. (authors)