F. Gandolfi et al., THE IN-VITRO DEVELOPMENTAL COMPETENCE OF BOVINE OOCYTES CAN BE RELATED TO THE MORPHOLOGY OF THE OVARY, Theriogenology, 48(7), 1997, pp. 1153-1160
This study was designed to assess whether the developmental potential
of bovine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) could be related to the morp
hology of their originating ovary, providing a simple, noninvasive and
objective selection criterion. Ovaries were divided into 3 categories
on the basis of: A) presence of a follicle > 10 mm in diameter, B) pr
esence of more than 10 follicles of 2 to 5 mm in diameter and no folli
cles > 10 mm, and C) presence of less than 10 follicles of 2 to 5 mm i
n diameter and no follicles > 10 mm. The COCs, isolated from ovaries o
f Category C, showed lower rates of maturation and blastocyst formatio
n than those from Categories A and B. Moreover, blastocysts derived fr
om Category C ovaries had fewer cells than those derived from the othe
r 2 categories. It is concluded that ovarian morphology is a simple an
d noninvasive parameter for an effective selection of oocytes with bet
ter developmental competence. (C) 1997 by Elsevier Science Inc.