Apoptosis occurrence in cat ovarian tissue during storage at +4°C: superoxide dismutase (Sod) addiction in transport media.

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of the superoxide dismutase (SOD) supplementation in ovary transport media during +4°C storage of cat ovaries on the ovarian apoptosis occurrence. Thirtysix ovary ovaries, collected from 18 mixed-breed domestic queens, were stored at +4°C at different time intervals (eight ovaries at 3 h, 10 at 24 h, 10 at 48 h and eight at 72 h), half parts in PBS (Control) and half parts in PBS with SOD (S5639, Sigma-Aldrich, Milan, Italy), before being fixed in formalin in order to perform the immune-histochemical analysis of tissue damage. The Trevigen’s TACS 2 TdT DAB in situ apoptosis detection kit was used in our experiments. Cells containing fragmented nuclear chromatin, characteristic of apoptosis, showed a very dark brown nuclear staining after labelling. Data were compared using a chi-square test performed using Graphpad in Stat Version for Windows XP. Probabilities of less than p < 0.05 were considered significant. The obtained results indicated an increase in apoptotic areas into all experimental time groups and showed a significantly (p < 0.05) increase of apoptotic areas in sections of untreated samples at different experimental times during +4°C storage. These data demonstrated that SOD supplementation in transport media of domestic cat ovaries reduces cellular apoptosis.