Efeito da coenzima Q10 no meio de fertilização in vitro de embriões bovinos

Abstract

In vitro embryo production (IVP) in cattle became an important commercial tool in genetic improvement programs of the world herd, being widely used for this purpose. However in vitro fertilization (IVF) can cause generation of reactive oxygen species that can affect embryo viability. Coenzyme Q10, an important cofactor in the transport chain of mitochondria has antioxidant function on lipid membrane and it was proved a direct correlation between the presence of Coenzyme Q10 and normal spermatozoa parameters such as density, motility, morphology and volume. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of Coenzyme Q10 on sperm function in IVF using conventional or sexed semen; also if the addition of this cofactor can improve embryo IVP in bovine oocytes. In experiment 1 was evaluated the effect of sperm function during incubation periods of sexed and conventional semen samples. In experiment 2, IVF medium was supplemented with 0 (control group), 5 μM, 10 μM, 20 μM of Coenzyme Q10. Bovine oocytes were collected from a slaughterhouse located 20 minutes from the lab. It was observed a negative effect of Coenzyme with significant differences in the rates of cleavage or in the production of blastocyst (p< 0.05) at a concentration of 20 μM when compared with all other groups with either sexed as conventional semen. These results demonstrate that supplementation of the Coenzyme Q10 in the IVF medium, do not alter spermatozoa function. We can also infer that there is a tendency to improve embryo production in the concentration of 5 μM in IVF medium.