Effect of sequential medium on in vitro culture of goat ovarian cortical tissue

A sequential medium was evaluated on the survival, activation and growth rates of caprine preantral follicles submitted to a long-term culture period, aiming to establish an ideal in vitro culture system. Ovarian fragments were cultured for 16 days in α-MEM+ alone or supplemented with hormones (GH and/or FSH) added sequentially on different days of culture. Ovarian fragments were cultured in the first (days 0–8) and second (days 8–16) halves of the culture period, generating 10 treatments: α-MEM+/α-MEM+, FSH/FSH, FSH/GH, FSH/FSH + GH, GH/GH, GH/FSH, GH/FSH + GH, FSH + GH/FSH + GH, FSH + GH/FSH and FSH + GH/GH. Follicle morphology, viability and ultrastructure were analyzed. After day 1 of culture, FSH treatments maintained the percentage of normal follicles similar to the fresh control. At day 16 of culture, the treatment FSH/GH showed the highest (P < 0.05) percentage of normal follicles. The ultrastructure of follicles was preserved in the fresh control and FSH/GH treatment. Follicles cultured with FSH/GH had a higher (P < 0.05) viability than α-MEM+; however the viability was lower (P < 0.05) when compared to the fresh control. The FSH/GH treatment showed the highest (P < 0.05) percentage of follicular activation and secondary follicle formation and produced the largest (P < 0.05) mean follicular diameter after 16 days of culture. In conclusion, a sequential medium supplemented with FSH followed by GH during a long-term culture maintains the survival, viability and ultrastructure of goat preantral follicles, and promotes activation and secondary follicles.