Effects of chlorogenic acid (CGA) supplementation during in vitro maturation culture on the development and quality of porcine embryos with electroporation treatment after in vitro fertilization

Electroporation is the technique of choice to introduce an exogenous gene into embryos for transgenic animal production. Although this technique is practical and effective, embryonic damage caused by electroporation treatment remains a major problem. This study was conducted to evaluate the optimal culture system for electroporation-treated porcine embryos by supplementation of chlorogenic acid (CGA), a potent antioxidant, during in vitro oocyte maturation. The oocytes were treated with various concentrations of CGA (0, 10, 50, and 100 µM/L) through the duration of maturation for 44 h. The treated oocytes were then fertilized, electroporated at 30 V/mm with five 1-msec unipolar pulses, and subsequently cultured in vitro until development into the blastocyst stage. Without electroporation, the treatment with 50 µM/L CGA had useful effects on the maturation rate of oocytes, the total cell number, and the apoptotic nucleus indices of blastocysts. When the oocytes were electroporated after in vitro fertilization, the treatment with 50 μM CGA supplementation significantly improved the rate of oocytes that developed into blastocysts and reduced the apoptotic nucleus indices (4.7% and 7.6, respectively) compared with those of the untreated group (1.4% and 13.0, respectively). These results suggested that supplementation with 50 μM CGA during maturation improves porcine embryonic development and quality of electroporation-treated embryos.

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Nguyen, T-V, Wittayarat, M, Do, LTK, et al. Effects of chlorogenic acid (CGA) supplementation during in vitro maturation culture on the development and quality of porcine embryos with electroporation treatment after in vitro fertilization. Anim Sci J. 2018; 89: 1207– 1213., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/asj.13049. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.