• Energy Research

The possibility of artificially inducing activation of MII buffalo oocytes may allow us to evaluate indirectly the quality of oocytes after in vitro maturation. The aim of this work was to compare buffalo embryo development after IVF and after chemical activation by two different agents. A further goal was to evaluate the effects of aging of oocytes on post-parthenogenetic and post-fertilization development. In Experiment 1 cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were recovered from abattoir-derived ovaries and matured in vitro. After IVM the COCs were either fertilized in vitro (positive control) or activated with ethanol and ionomycin, both followed by immediate exposure to 6-diethylaminopurine (6-DMAP) for 4 h. In vitro culture (IVC) was carried out up to the blastocyst stage. In Experiment 2 COCs were matured in vitro for 18, 21, 24, 27 and 30 h before activation was triggered with ethanol, followed by 6-DMAP. In Experiment 3 COCs were fertilized in vitro at 18, 21, 24, 27 and 30 h post-maturation. Ethanol activation gave better results than the IVF control group, with higher cleavage rate (71.4 +/- 7.8 versus 55.8 +/- 5.8, respectively; P < 0.05) and a higher proportion of oocytes developing into morulae-blastocysts (32.6 +/- 6.5 versus 22.9 +/- 7.5, respectively; P < 0.05). Within the activation groups, ethanol supported the highest development in terms of cleavage (71.4 +/- 7.8 versus 59.4 +/- 10.7; P < 0.05) and morulae-blastocysts rate (32.6 +/- 6.5 versus 25.7 +/- 8.3; n.s.). It was also demonstrated that aging negatively affects post-parthenogenetic and post-fertilization development.

Dietary PUFA, mainly those of the n‐3 family, are known to play essential roles in the maintenance of energy balance and in the reduction of body fat deposition through the upregulation of mitochondrial uncoupling that is the main source of reactive oxygen species. We hypothesized that rat supplementation with raw donkey's milk (DM), characterized by low‐fat content and higher n3:n6 ratio, may affect energy balance, lipid metabolism, and prooxidant status as compared to animals treated with cow's milk. In the present study, the effects of drinking raw DM (for 4 weeks) on energy balance, lipid metabolism, antiinflammatory, and antioxidant/detoxifying defences was compared to that produced by rat intake of an iso‐energetic amount of raw cow's milk. The hypolipidemic effect produced by DM paralleled with the enhanced mitochondrial activity/proton leakage and with the increased activity or expression of mitochondrial markers namely, carnitine palmitoyl transferase and uncoupling protein 2. The association of decreased energy efficiency with reduced proinflammatory signs (TNF‐α and LPS levels) with the significant increase antioxidant (total thiols) and detoxifying enzyme activities (glutathione‐S‐transferase NADH quinone oxidoreductase) in DM‐treated animals, indicated that beneficial effects were attributable, at least in part, to the activation of nuclear factor 2 erythroid‐related factor 2 pathway.