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The article discusses the effectivity of sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) for the development of preantal follicle. It mentions that the follicular activation, and viability of caprine follicles was cultured in vitro. It notes that the application of S1P on the treatment for folliculogenesis after 7 days of culture has activated the development of preantra caprine follicles, and maintains the oocitary, and follicular viability.

The article discusses the results of a study which investigated whether transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß) affect the survival, activation and further growth of goat primordial follicles enclosed in ovarian cortex after in vitro culture. Topics include the ultrastructure after 7 days of culture, percentages of histologically normal follicles in all treatments, and effect of TGF-ß on the follicle growth and maintenance of ultrastructural integrity of goat preantral follicles.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF-9) and FSH on the in vitro development of caprine preantral follicles cultured for 16 days. Ovarian fragments were cultured in αMEM[sup +] (α-minimum essential medium, pH 7.2-7.4, 10 µg mL[sup -1] insulin, 5.5 µg mL[sup -1] transferrin, 5.0 ng mL[sup -1] selenium, 2 mM glutamine, 2 mM hypoxanthine and 1.25 mg mL[sup -1] bovine serum albumin) in the absence or presence of 200 ng mL[sup -1] GDF-9 and/or 50 ng mL[sup -1] FSH added during the first (Days 0-8) and/or second (Days 8-16) half of the culture period. Non-cultured and cultured fragments were processed for histological and ultrastructural analyses. After 16 days, all treatments using GDF-9 or FSH showed higher rates of follicular survival compared with αMEM[sup +] alone. Compared with non-cultured control, sequential culture media containing GDF-9 and/or FSH significantly increased the percentage of developing follicles and follicle diameter. Moreover, a progressive increase in oocyte diameter was observed only with sequential culture medium containing GDF-9 until Day 8 followed by FSH (GDF-9/FSH) in the second half of the culture period. After 16 days of culture, ultrastructural analysis confirmed the integrity of follicles cultured in the presence of GDF-9/FSH. In conclusion, a dynamic medium containing GDF-9 and FSH (GDF-9/FSH) maintained follicular integrity and promoted activation of primordial follicles and growth during long-term in vitro culture of goat preantral follicles. Using oocytes from in vitro grown and matured follicles is an alternative to overcome the limited supply of mature, fertilisable oocytes for assisted reproduction techniques. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of a dynamic medium containing growth differentiation factor 9 (GDF-9) and FSH on the survival, activation, steroidogenesis and in vitro growth of caprine preantral follicles during long-term culture. The results show that using a dynamic GDF-9/FSH medium resulted in significant and continuous follicular growth and maintenance of follicular ultrastructure, which may contribute to improvements in vitro embryo production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP)on the survival, activation and growth of goat preantral follicles after in vitro culture. The ovarian cortex was divided into small pieces and one fragment was immediately fixed (control). The remaining fragments were cultured in vitro for 1 or 7 days at 39°C and 5% CO2, in supplemented minimum essential medium (MEM+) with or without different concentrations of VIP (1, 10, 50, 100 or 200 ng/ml). Noncultured (fresh control) and cultured ovarian fragments were processed for histological analysis and transmission electron microscopy. Follicles were classified as primordial or developing, and as normal or degenerated. Our findings indicate that when compared with control, addition of all concentrations of VIP except 200 ng/ml resulted in similar percentages of normal preantral follicles after 1 and 7 days of culture. Culture of ovarian cortex tissue for 1 and 7 days increased the percentage of follicular activation in all treatments when compared with control, except with 1 ng/ml of VIP after 1 day. However, no difference was observed between VIP-treated and MEM+-treated follicles. In addition, after 7 days of culture, the highest follicular and oocyte diameters were observed in follicles cultured with 10 ng/ml VIP relative to MEM+ alone. Transmission electron microscopy showed ultrastructural integrity of follicles after 7 days of culture in 10 ng/ml VIP. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that VIP maintains follicular integrity and stimulates caprine preantral follicle growth. Copyright © 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of estradiol and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) on survival and growth of caprine preantral follicles. Pieces of ovarian tissue were cultured for 1 or 7 days in minimum essential medium (MEM) containing estradiol (1, 5, 10, 20 or 40 pg/ml), FSH (50 ng/ml), or a combination of the two hormones. Cultured and noncultured control ovarian tissues were processed for histological and ultrastructural studies. The results showed that after 7 days of culture, the treatments that yielded the highest percentage of normal follicles relative to MEM alone were those that combined FSH with estradiol at 1, 5 or 20 pg/ml. The addition of FSH to 1-day cultures containing 1 pg/ml estradiol or to 7-day cultures with 1 or 5 pg/ml estradiol increased the percentage of normal follicles compared to estradiol alone at the same concentrations. After 7 days of culture, all treatments generated higher percentages of developing follicles as compared to control and MEM alone. The addition of either FSH or 10 pg/ml of estradiol to the culture media or estradiol (1, 5, 10 or 20 pg/ml) and FSH in combination significantly increased follicular diameter as compared with MEM alone following 7 days of culture. Ultrastructural studies confirmed follicular integrity after 7 days of culture in the presence of 1 pg/ml estradiol plus FSH. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that the interaction between estradiol and FSH maintains ultrastructural integrity and stimulates activation and further growth of cultured caprine preantral follicles. Copyright © 2009 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]