Assesment of lipid peroxidation by tbars assay in spent media of oocytes obtained by trans vaginal ovum pickup subjected to in vitro maturation

Abstract

Oxidative stress during in vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes compromise oocyte quality and developmental competence. The current study was undertaken to understand the lipid peroxidation levels in spent media supplemented with natural antioxidants during oocyte maturation. A total of 338 oocytes were recovered through transvaginal ovum pick-up (OPU) and randomly allocated to four treatment groups viz., Vitrogen maturation medium (Group 1), Media-T (TCM- 199 based; Group 2), Media-T supplemented with silymarin (40 µg/ml; Group 3), and Media-T supplemented with Quercetin (10 µg/ml; Group 4). Oocytes were cultured in 100 µl respective media droplets for 24 hours. Following maturation, spent media was collected and assessed for lipid peroxidation by using TBARS assay. About 288 oocytes were successfully matured, yielding maturation rates of 88.89%, 87.18%, 88.41%, and 82.61%, respectively. The mean MDA concentration (n mol/ml) detected in spent media was 31.14, 25.16, 11.64 and 13.96 in Group 1 to 4, respectively indicating numerically lower lipid peroxidation among all groups compared to control media (Group 1). However, the overall lipid peroxidation detected in spent media suggests that antioxidant supplementation during oocyte maturation would help to maintain redox balance.