Studies on Survival of Horse Oocytes After Rapid-i Method Vitrification

The aim of the present study was to determine the vitality and developmental competence of equine oocytes after in vitro maturation (IVM) and vitrified by Rapid-i method. In experiment 1, oocytes after IVM were vitrified using media: EquiPro VitKit (group 1) or medium containing 18% Ficoll, 40% ethylene glycol, and 0.3 M sucrose (group 2). For evaluation of toxicity effect, oocytes were exposed to media without a plug to liquid nitrogen. To evaluate viability, oocytes were stained with fluorescein diacetate and ethidium bromide. In experiment 2, oocytes after IVM and vitrification were activated by 7.5 μM ionomicin in TCM 199 (5 minutes) combined with 2 mM 6-DMAP in TCM 199 with 10% fetal bovine serum (4.5 hours). Survival rate was: 63% in group 1 (n = 54), 55% in group 2 (n = 69), and 73.2% (n = 56) in the control group. After parthenogenetic activation, 10.2% (n = 49) of 2–4 blastomeres were observed. This percentage was lower than in the nonvitrified group: 38.5% (n = 53).