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Undernutrition affects embryo quality of superovulated ewes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 October 2013

J.A. Abecia ,
F. Forcada ,
I. Palacín ,
L. Sánchez-Prieto ,
C. Sosa ,
A. Fernández-Foren  and
A. Meikle
J.A. Abecia*
Affiliation:
Dept Producción Animal y Ciencia de los Alimentos, Universidad de Zaragoza, Facultad de Veterinaria, Miguel Servet 177, 500013, Zaragoza, Spain.
F. Forcada
Affiliation:
Dept Producción Animal y Ciencia de los Alimentos, Universidad de Zaragoza, Facultad de Veterinaria, Zaragoza, Spain.
I. Palacín
Affiliation:
Dept Producción Animal y Ciencia de los Alimentos, Universidad de Zaragoza, Facultad de Veterinaria, Zaragoza, Spain.
L. Sánchez-Prieto
Affiliation:
Dept Producción Animal y Ciencia de los Alimentos, Universidad de Zaragoza, Facultad de Veterinaria, Zaragoza, Spain.
C. Sosa
Affiliation:
Dept de Anatomía Patológica, Medicina Legal y Forense y Toxicología, Universidad de Zaragoza, Facultad de Veterinaria, Zaragoza, Spain.
A. Fernández-Foren
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Técnicas Nucleares, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay.
A. Meikle
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Técnicas Nucleares, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay.
*
All correspondence to: José-Alfonso Abecia. Dept Producción Animal y Ciencia de los Alimentos, Universidad de Zaragoza, Facultad de Veterinaria, Miguel Servet 177, 500013, Zaragoza, Spain. Tel: +34 876554159. e-mail: alf@unizar.es
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Summary

To determine the effect of undernutrition on embryo production and quality in superovulated sheep, 45 ewes were allocated into two groups to be fed diets that provided 1.5 (control, C; n = 20) or 0.5 (low nutrition, L; n = 25) times daily requirements for maintenance, from oestrous synchronization with intravaginal sponges to embryo collection. Embryos were collected 7 days after the onset of oestrus (day 0). Low nutrition resulted in lower live weight and body condition at embryo collection (P < 0.05). Diet (P < 0.01) and day of sampling (P < 0.001) significantly affected plasma non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) and insulin concentrations. Plasma leptin concentrations decreased on day 7 only in L ewes. A significant effect of dietary treatment (P < 0.05) and day (P < 0.0001) was observed on plasma insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I concentrations. The number of recovered oocytes and embryos did not differ between the groups (L: 15.4 ± 0.4; C: 12.4 ± 0.4). Recovery rate was lower (P < 0.05) in the L (60%) than in the C group (73%). The total number of embryos and number of viable-transferable embryos (5.0 ± 0.3 and 3.4 ± 0.3 embryos, respectively) of the L group were lower (P < 0.1) when compared with controls (8.4 ± 0.4 and 6.2 ± 0.4 embryos, respectively). Undernutrition during the period of superovulation and early embryonic development reduced total and viable number of embryos. These effects might be mediated by disruption of endocrine homeostasis, oviduct environment and/or oocyte quality.

Keywords

EmbryoSheepSuperovulationUndernutrition
Type
Research Article
Information
Zygote , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , February 2015 , pp. 116 - 124
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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