Effect of nerve growth factor (NGF) on the development of preimplantation rabbit embryos in vitro.pdfVIP

Vet Res Commun (2010) 34:11– 18 DOI 10.1007/s11259-009-9325-1 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Effect of nerve growth factor (NGF) on the development of preimplantation rabbit embryos in vitro Yijin Pei Accepted: 2 October 2009 /Published online: 16 October 2009 # Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2009 Abstract This study aimed to investigate the effect of nerve growth factor (NGF) on the development of preimplantation rabbit embryos in vitro. Zygotes were collected from superovulated New Zealand rabbits 19 h after injection of hCG and immediately mating and cultured in TCM-199 plus fatty-acid free BSA with different concentrations of NGF. Zygotes not treated with NGF served as control. At 24 h, 48 h, 72 h and 96 h of the culture, the numbers of the early cleavage stage, morulae, blastocysts and hatching blastocysts were determined. The intrazonal diameter of the blastocyst and the total cell numbers per blastocyst were measured after 96 h of culture. The results showed: (1) NGF at 100 ng/mL and 1000 ng/mL could improve the numbers of the hatching blastocysts which developed compared to the control treatment (p 0.05); (2) All concentrations of NGF increased the total cell numbers in the blastocysts compared to the control treatment (p 0.05); (3) NGF had no significant effect on the blastocyst intrazonal diameter of the blastocysts at 96 h of culture (p =0.493); (4) The proportion in the early cleavage stage at 24 h of culture (p = 0.635), of morulae at 48 h of culture (p =0.812) and of blastocysts at 72 h of culture (p = 0.812) in all treatments were not significantly different. Keywords Development . Nerve growth factor . Rabbit . Zygotes Abbreviations BSA bovine serum albumin EGF epiderminal growth factor HB-EGF heparin-binding epiderminal growth factor hCG human chorionic gonadotropin This study was supported by the Doctoral Scie