Effect of Braun-Collins and Saline solutions at different temperatures andincubation times on the quality of goat preantral follicles preserved in situ

The present work has investigated the efficiency of Braun-Collins and Salin e (0.9%) solutions in the conservation of goat preantral follicles in situ, at different temperatures and incubation times. For each animal the ovaria n pair was divided into 19 fragments. One ovarian fragment was taken random ly and immediately fixed (control). The other 18 ovarian fragments were ran domly distributed in tubes containing Braun-Collins or Saline (0.9%) soluti ons at 4, 20 or 39 degreesC for 4, 12 or 24 h. A total of 3385, 372 and 191 primordial, primary and secondary follicles were examined, respectively. T he quality of preantral follicles was evaluated by histology and transmissi on electron microscopy, The storage of ovarian fragments in Saline (0.9%) o r Braun-Collins solutions at 4 degreesC did not reduce significantly the pe rcentage of morphologically normal follicles when compared with the control . The histological analysis revealed a morphological integrity of goat prea ntral follicles stored at 4 degreesC for up to 24 h in both solutions, but these results were not confirmed by ultrastructural analysis. The transmiss ion electron microscopy revealed that only preantral follicles stored at 4 degreesC for a maximum of 12h in both solutions were ultrastructurally norm al. In conclusion, this study shows for the first time that goat preantral follicles can be stored in situ successfully at 4 degreesC in Saline (0.9%) or Braun-Collins solution for up to 12h. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. Al l rights reserved.