Impact of L-carnitine supplementation on the in vitro developmental competence and cryotolerance of buffalo embryos

Vet World Vol.14 December-2021 Article-14

Research Article

Veterinary World, 14(12): 3164-3169

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2021.3164-3169

Mohamed M. M. El-Sokary¹, Al-Shimaa Al-H. H. El-Naby¹, Amal R. Abd El Hameed², Karima Gh. M. Mahmoud², and T. H. Scholkamy³

1. Department of Theriogenology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Benha University, Egypt.
2. Department of Animal Reproduction and A.I., Veterinary Research Division, National Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.
3. Department of Field Investigations, Animal Reproduction Research Institute, Agriculture Research Center, Giza, Egypt.

Background and Aim: Despite many trials, buffalo embryos have poor cryosurvivability because of their high lipid content. L-carnitine was found to be a lipid-reducing agent when added to oocyte and embryo culture media. The study aimed to determine the most effective concentration of L-carnitine to improve the oocyte developmental competence and cryotolerance of buffalo embryos.

Materials and Methods: In vitro maturation and embryo culture media were supplemented with four concentrations of L-carnitine: 0 (control), 0.25, 0.5, and 1 mM. Good-quality embryos on 7 days were vitrified using mixtures of dimethyl sulfoxide and ethylene glycol at two concentrations (3.5 and 7 M).

Results: The result showed that the cleavage and morula rates were significantly (p<0.05) higher in the 0.5 mM group. Blastocyst rates were significantly (p<0.05) higher at both 0.5 and 1 mM. The rates of viable embryos directly after thawing were significantly (p<0.05) increased in the 0.5 mM group. No significant difference was found in embryos cultured for 24 h after warming among all the groups.

Conclusion: The addition of L-carnitine at a concentration of 0.5 mM to the culture media improves the oocyte developmental competence and cryotolerance of buffalo embryos directly after warming but not after 24 h of culture. Nevertheless, further studies must identify how L-carnitine exerts its beneficial micromechanisms. Keywords: antioxidant, buffalo embryos, cryotolerance, L-carnitine.

Keywords: antioxidant, buffalo embryos, cryotolerance, L-carnitine.

How to cite this article: El-Sokary MMM, El-Naby AAH, El Hameed ARA, Mahmoud KGM, Scholkamy TH (2021) Impact of L-carnitine supplementation on the in vitro developmental competence and cryotolerance of buffalo embryos, Veterinary World, 14(12): 3164-3169.

Received: 03-08-2021 Accepted: 01-11-2021 Published online: 26-12-2021

Corresponding author: Mohamed M. M. El-Sokary E-mail: mohamed.alsokary@fvtm.bu.edu.eg

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2021.3164-3169

Copyright: El-Sokary MMM, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.