%0 Journal Article
%T Tumor necrosis factor alpha inhibits in vitro bovine embryo development through a prostaglandin mediated mechanism
%A Lauren R Jackson
%A Char E Farin
%A Scott Whisnant
%J Journal of Animal Science and Biotechnology
%D 2012
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/2049-1891-3-7
%X Mastitis and other inflammatory diseases occur in cattle leading to not only decreased milk production and increased costs but to a reduction in reproductive performance [1,2]. Cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor ¦Á (TNF¦Á), play a role in the immune response and are increased in the serum of cows diagnosed with clinical mastitis [2]. This release of cytokines can have detrimental effects on endometrial and oviductal tissue leading to decreased embryo development. Addition of TNF¦Á to oocyte maturation media in vitro reduced the development of bovine cumulus oocyte complexes (COC) to the blastocyst stage [3]. This effect of TNF¦Á could be mediated by prostaglandins. Cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX2), an inducible enzyme responsible for the first step in prostaglandin production from arachidonic acid is upregulated by cytokines [4]. Exposure of bovine embryos to prostaglandin F2 ¦Á (PGF2¦Á) inhibited development to the blastocyst stage in vitro [5] and progesterone supplemented cows exposed to PGF2¦Á had reduced embryo quality [6]. Bovine oocytes expressed TNF¦Á mRNA and lower TNF¦Á mRNA levels were associated with more oocytes developing to the blastocyst stage on day 8 [7]. The objective of the current experiment was to determine if addition of indomethacin, an inhibitor of the COX enzyme, could block the detrimental effects of TNF¦Á on development of bovine embryos.Tissue culture medium (TCM-199) was purchased from Gibco-BRL (Grand Island, NY). Fatty-acid free BSA was purchased from Boehringer-Mannheim (Indianapolis, IN). Recombinant bovine TNF¦Á was purchased from Pierce Endogen (Rockford, IL) and reconstituted in sterile saline to a final concentration of 4 ng/mL. All other reagents and media supplements were of tissue culture grade and were obtained from Sigma Chemical Co. (St. Louis, MO). Indomethacin was reconstituted to a 1000X stock solution of 1 ¦Ìg/mL in sterile absolute ethanol. With the exception of the fertilization medium, all culture media contained 50 ¦Ìg/mL of gent
%K tumor necrosis factor ¦Á
%K bovine
%K embryo
%K indomethacin
%U http://www.jasbsci.com/content/3/1/7