Ovum pick-up and in vitro production technology in field conditions in the North East of Argentina

The aim of this work was to assess the feasibility of ovum pick-up and in vitro embryo production technology in field conditions in buffalo and crossbreed cattle. This study represents the first trial of in vitro fertilization carried out in North East Argentina. Buffalo (n=11) and bovine (n=3) donors underwent Ovum pick-up twice per week for 2 weeks. The equipment was hand-made, resulting in the impossibility of controlling the aspiration pressure. A higher number of cumulus-oocyte-complexes were recovered in bovine vs buffalo (6.3 vs 3.6 per donor respectively). In bovine the quality of the COCs was also superior (53.9 vs 26.6 % of highest quality COCs in bovine and buffalo respectively). A significantly higher incidence of denuded oocytes was found in buffalo (38.0 vs 11.8 %), indicating a higher sensitivity of buffalo oocytes to mechanical damages. Despite the poor oocyte quality and the suboptimal culture conditions, the latter related to the lack of lab facilities, buffalo embryo cleaved (35.7 %) and developed up to the tight-morula stage (22.5 %). This preliminary trial sets the basis for future studies in Argentina.