Effects of resveratrol on in vitro maturation of porcine oocytes and subsequent early embryonic development following somatic cell nuclear transfer.

As a natural plant-derived antitoxin, resveratrol possesses several pharmacological activities. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of resveratrol addition on nuclear maturation, oocyte quality during in vitro maturation (IVM) of porcine oocytes and subsequent early embryonic development following somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT). Our experiments showed that the treatment of porcine oocytes with 5 µM resveratrol during IVM resulted in the highest rate of the first polar body extrusion. Treatment of oocytes with resveratrol had no influence on cytoskeletal dynamics, whereas it significantly increased glucose uptake ability compared to the control oocytes. Oocytes matured with 5 μM resveratrol displayed significantly lower intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and higher relative mRNA expression levels of the genes encoding such antioxidant enzymes as catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1). In addition, resveratrol also prevented onset and progression of programmed cell death in porcine oocytes, which was confirmed by significant upregulation of the anti-apoptotic B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) gene and significant downregulation of the pro-apoptotic BCL2-associated X (BAX) gene. Furthermore, the blastocyst rates and the blastocyst cell numbers in cloned embryos derived from the oocytes that had matured in the presence of 5 μM resveratrol were significantly increased. In conclusion, supplementation of IVM medium with 5 μM resveratrol improves the quality of porcine oocytes by protecting them from oxidative damage and apoptosis, which leads to the production of meiotically matured oocytes exhibiting enhanced developmental potential following SCNT.