The effect of melatonin on bovine in vitro embryo development

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of melatonin supplementation during in vitro maturation on fertilization and embryo development in cattle. Bovine cumulus-oocyte-complexes (COC), recovered from abattoir ovaries, were matured in vitro in the absence (control) and in the presence of 10 mu M, 100 mu M and 1 mu M of melatonin. Matured oocytes were fertilized in vitro with frozen-thawed sperm and cultured up to the blastocyst stage. The results of this work demonstrated that melatonin enrichment of the in vitro maturation (IVM) medium does not affect both cleavage (71.0, 72.8, 72.5 and 72.7 % in the control group and in the groups supplemented with 10 mu M, 100 mu M and 1 mu M of melatonin respectively) and blastocyst rates (41.3, 33.8, 39.4 and 38.3 % respectively) in cattle.