Inhibitory effects of calcium ionophore pretreatment of porcine oocytes on polyspermic fertilization

Abstract

The present study examined the inhibitory effects of various pretreatment concentrations (0–100 μM) of the calcium ionophore A23187 on polyspermic fertilization and then examined the effect of the maturation period and the time between calcium ionophore treatment and fertilization on the inhibitory effect of calcium ionophore on polyspermic fertilization. In experiment 1, a high concentration of calcium ionophore (100 μM) increased the rate of activated oocytes, but the rate of fertilization declined. On the other hand, when oocytes were treated with a low concentration of calcium ionophore (10 μM), monospermic fertilization was significantly increased (10 μM; 31.3%) (p < 0.05). In experiment 2, oocytes were cultured for various times (0, 0.5, 3, 6 h) after calcium ionophore treatment (10 μM) before fertilization. The highest rate of monospermic fertilization was detected in the oocytes cultured for 6 h after calcium ionophore treatment before fertilization. In experiments 3 and 4, we examined the effect of the maturation period (40 h or 44 h) on the rate of fertilization and blastulation of oocytes pretreated with calcium ionophore. The treatment of oocytes with calcium ionophore significantly decreased the rate of polyspermic fertilization regardless of the maturation period (44 h: with calcium ionophore 26.25% vs without 78.8%; 40 h: with calcium ionophore 37.5% vs without 77.5%); however, calcium ionophore treatment increased the rates of monospermic fertilization and blastulation of the oocytes matured for 44 h, but not those matured for 40 h. In conclusion, activation with a low concentration of calcium ionophore (10 μM) and a further 6 h of culture before fertilization improved the rate of monospermic fertilization and blastulation.