Efficacy of a recombinant trypsin product against bovine herpesvirus 1 associated with in vivo- and in vitro-derived bovine embryos

Although porcine-origin trypsin will effectively remove bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV-1) associated with in vivo-derived embryos, TrypLE™, a recombinant trypsin-like protease, has not been evaluated. In Experiment 1, 17 groups of 10 in vivo-derived embryos were exposed to BHV-1, treated with TrypLE™ Express or TrypLE™ Select (10× concentration) for varying intervals, and assayed as 2 groups of 5 embryos. TrypLE™ Select treatment for 5 and 10 min (two and seven groups of five embryos, respectively) effectively inactivated BHV-1. In Experiment 2, 22 groups of 10 IVF embryos were treated and assayed. Treatment with TrypLE™ Select for 7 and 10 min (six groups of five embryos each) and with TrypLE™ Select diluted 1:2 for 10 min (seven groups of five embryos) was also effective. In Experiment 3, 17 groups of 10 IVF embryos were further evaluated with TrypLE™ Select undiluted and diluted 1:2 for 10 min. Treatment with the diluted product was effective (18 groups of five embryos), whereas the undiluted product was not completely effective (virus isolated from 2 of 16 groups). In Experiment 4, IVF embryos were treated as described in Experiment 3 and then cultured individually or as groups of five on uterine tubal cells (UTCs) for 48 h; 60% of UTC samples associated with groups of embryos and 35% of UTC associated with individual embryo samples were positive for BHV-1. Therefore, although TrypLE™ Select appeared to have promise for the treatment of in vivo-derived embryos, it cannot be recommended for treatment of in vitro-derived embryos.