Effects of ergothioneine supplementation on meiotic competence and porcine oocyte development

Vet World Vol.17 August-2024 Article - 11

Research Article

Veterinary World, 17(8): 1748-1752

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2024.1748-1752

Megumi Nagahara^1,2, Zhao Namula^1,3, Qingyi Lin^1,2, Koki Takebayashi^1,2, Nanaka Torigoe^1,2, Bin Liu^1,2, Fuminori Tanihara¹, Takeshige Otoi^1,2, and Maki Hirata^1,2

1. Bio-Innovation Research Center, Tokushima University, Tokushima, Japan.
2. Department of Animal Reproduction, Faculty of Bioscience and Bioindustry, Tokushima University, Tokushima, Japan.
3. Department of Animal Reproduction, College of Coastal Agricultural Sciences, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, China.

Background and Aim: The antioxidant effects of ergothioneine (EGT) on in vitro culture of porcine zygote are not well established. The study investigated the impact of EGT supplementation on meiotic competence and development of porcine oocytes.

Materials and Methods: The impact of EGT concentrations (0, 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 μM) during in vitro maturation (IVM) on the progression of meiotic maturation, fertilization, and blastocyst formation in porcine oocytes was assessed. The DNA fragmentation level was evaluated to determine oocyte and blastocyst quality.

Results: The proportion of metaphase II oocytes was significantly greater (p < 0.05) in EGT-cultured oocytes than in control oocytes, regardless of the EGT concentration, and those oocytes with 10 μM or more EGT had fewer DNA-fragmented nuclei (p < 0.05). Blastocysts derived from oocytes cultured with 10 μM EGT had the highest proportion (p < 0.05), while those from control oocytes or oocytes cultured with 50 μM or less EGT had significantly higher proportions. Despite EGT supplementation, there were no noticeable differences in total cell numbers and DNA fragmentation indices in the derived blastocysts.

Conclusion: Supplementing with EGT during IVM leads to better oocyte maturation, quality, and embryonic development due to decreased DNA fragmentation. The present study failed to elucidate the mechanism of DNA fragmentation reduction by EGT. More research needs to be conducted to explore the antioxidant mechanism of EGT.

Keywords: antioxidant, DNA fragmentation, ergothioneine, maturation, porcine oocytes.

How to cite this article: Nagahara M, Namula Z, Lin Q, Takebayashi K, Torigoe N, Liu B, Tanihara F, Otoi T, and Hirata M (2024) Effects of ergothioneine supplementation on meiotic competence and porcine oocyte development, Veterinary World, 17(8): 1748-1752.

Received: 2024-05-14 Accepted: 2024-07-15 Published online: 2024-08-13

Corresponding author: Maki Hirata E-mail: mhirata@tokushima-u.ac.jp

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2024.1748-1752

Copyright: Nagahara, 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.