Effects of storage time and temperature on atresia of goat ovarian preantral follicles held in M199 with or without indole-3-acetic acid supplementation

Maintenance of follicular quality after removal and during transport of ova ries is necessary for studies on development of preantral follicles in vitr o. The present work investigated the effectiveness of M199 and M199IAA for preservation of goat preantral follicles in ovarian tissue. At the slaughte rhouse, the ovarian pair of each animal was divided into 19 fragments. One ovarian fragment was immediately fixed (control - Time 0). The other 18 fra gments were randomly distributed in M199 or M199IAA at 4, 20 or 39 degreesC and stored for 4, 12 or 24 h. Histological analysis showed that storage of ovarian fragments in either solution at 20 or 39 degreesC significantly re duced the percentage of normal preantral follicles when compared with the c ontrol, in all cases except after preservation in M199IAA at 20 degreesC fo r 4 h. In contrast, preservation at 4 degreesC, in either solution, kept th e percentage of normal preantral follicles at control values. Reduced cellu lar metabolism may explain why the best preservation of preantral follicles was at 4 degreesC. The addition of IAA to the TCM 199 was effective for go at preantral follicle preservation at 20 degreesC for 4 h. (C) 2001 by Else vier Science Inc.