Meta-analysis to determine effects of treatment with FSH when there is progestin-priming on in-vitro embryo production using ovum pick-up in Bos taurus cows

Abstract Treatments with follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) to enhance ovarian follicular development before ovum pick-up (OPU) are important for improving in-vitro embryo production (IVEP) procedures in cows, however, procedural efficacy needs to be evaluated. The objective of the present study was to use meta-analytic methods to determine effects of FSH treatments on ovarian functions when there is progestin-priming on IVEP using OPU in Bos taurus cows (n = 243). The literature was systematically reviewed and data from eight experiments, with 23 treatment means including 448 OPU sessions, were used for analyses. All eight experiments included a group of cows in which there was no FSH treatment (CON), and treatment with FSH before OPU to conduct IVEP. Mixed models were fitted using MIXED and GLIMMIX procedures of SAS. Additionally, classical meta-analytical statistics were also fitted using METAN and METAREG procedures of STATA. Models included fixed effects (i.e., CON and FSH) and random effects of the experiment, and data were weighted using the inverse of the SEM squared to account for precision of each experiment. Number of medium sized follicles, quality of oocytes, and transferable embryos were greater (P