Growth and development of rabbit oocytes in vitro: Effect of fetal bovine serum concentration on culture medium

Abstract The objective was to develop a culture system that produced blastocyst stage embryos from rabbit oocytes grown in vitro . Two experiments were performed. First, various concentrations of fetal bovine serum (FBS, 0, 0.05, 0.5 and 5%) were used in the culture medium for in vitro growth (IVG) of oocytes recovered from follicles 200 to 299 μm in diameter. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) was performed on mature oocytes obtained after IVG for 8 days and in vitro maturation for 14 to 16 h. Rates of survival and pronuclear formation after ICSI were higher for oocytes grown in a medium with 0.05% FBS compared to oocytes grown in a medium lacking FBS (97.6 vs. 76.9%, 97.5 vs. 70%, P in vitro with 0.05% FBS had reduced oxygen consumption and number of cells compared with those from ovulated oocytes (21.66 ± 4.54 × 10 14 vs. 50.19 ± 4.61 × 10 14 mol/sec, 244 ± 25 vs. 398 ± 24, P in vitro with 0.05% FBS achieved pregnancy, but pregnancies were not maintained to term. In conclusion, the addition of 0.05% FBS to the culture medium for IVG improved developmental competence of rabbit oocytes grown in vitro .