Effects of different stimulators of cGMP synthesis on lipid content in bovine oocytes matured in vitro

Bovine oocytes and blastocysts produced are frequently of lower quality and less cryotolerant than those produced , and greater accumulation of lipids in the cytoplasm has been pointed out as one of the reasons. In human adipocytes cGMP signaling through the activation of PKG appears to be involved in lipid metabolism, and components of this pathway have been detected in bovine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs). The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of this pathway on the lipid content in oocytes and expression of PLIN2 (a lipid metabolism-related gene) in cumulus cells. COCs were matured for 24 h with different stimulators of cGMP synthesis. The activation of soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC) by Protoporphyrin IX reduced lipid content (22.7 FI) compared to control oocytes (36.45 FI; P 0.05). When the PKG inhibitor KT5823 was associated with Protoporphyrin IX, its effect was reversed and lipid contents increased (52.71 FI; P