The Culture of Pig Oocytes in Minimal Medium, and the Influence of Progesterone and Estradiol-17β on Meiotic Maturation

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Abstract
Pig oocytes, with (intact) or without (denuded) adhering granulosa cells, were cultured for 33-35 h in minimal culture media containing bovine serum albumin and progesterone or estradiol-17.beta. or both steroids. The incidence of maturation for intact oocytes in minimal medium was comparable, if not superior, to that observed by other investigators using complex culture media. No statistically significant stimulation of maturation by progesterone was observed for either intact or denuded oocytes. Estradiol-17.beta. at concentrations of 1.0 and 10.0 .mu.g/ml inhibited the maturation of denuded oocytes, but the inhibition was overcome either by including progesterone in the medium or by subsequently culturing the inhibited oocytes in steroid-free medium. Chromosomal examination of air-dried oocytes indicated that intact and denuded oocytes cultured in progesterone or estradiol-17.beta. exhibited an increase incidence of diploidy and hyperhaploidy at telophase I and metaphase II, but that oocytes cultured in media containing progesterone and estradiol showed a higher incidence of normal haploidy than did control oocytes.