Synchronization of meiosis in porcine oocytes by exposure to dibutyryl cyclic adenosine monophosphate improves developmental competence following in vitro fertilization

The effect of stage of maturation of the germinal vesicle of porcine oocytes at the time of in vitro maturation on subsequent developmental competence was examined. A large variation exists in the germinal vesicle morphology of oocytes at the time of collection of cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) and after culture in the absence of dibutyryl cAMP (dbcAMP) for 20 h. However, the morphology of the germinal vesicle was synchronized to a specific stage after culture in the presence of 1 mM dbcAMP for 20 h. There was no difference in germinal vesicle breakdown rate (total mean, 75.0 ± 5.4%) or in maturation rate (total mean, 82.1 ± 2.1%) at 28 and 44 h of culture, respectively. However, differences in meiotic progress of oocytes were observed (p < 0.05) at 36 h of culture when COCs were exposed to dbcAMP for the first 20 h of maturation, as compared to controls. The incidence of embryos that developed to the blastocyst stage after in vitro fertilization was higher (p < 0.05) when COCs were exposed to dbcAMP (21.5 ± 2.5%) as compared to controls (9.2 ± 1.6%). After transfer of experimental embryos to four recipient gilts, the three pregnant recipients delivered 19 live piglets. These results indicate that exposure of COCs to dbcAMP for the first 20 h of culture for maturation increases the homogeneity of oocyte nuclear maturation and improves the efficiency of in vitro production of swine embryos.