Effects of α-tocopherol and ternatin antioxidants on morphology and activation of goat preantral follicles in vitro cultured

The effects of alpha-tocopherol and ternatin on the morphology, activation, and growth of goat preantral follicles in vitro cultured, for one or five days, were evaluated. Ovarian fragments were immediately fixed (non-cultured control) or in vitro cultured for one or five days in Minimum Essential Medium (MEM) with or without alpha-tocopherol or ternatin supplementation, both at concentrations of 5, 10, or 15 mu M, corresponding to the following treatments: MEM, TOC5, TOC10, TOC 15, TER5, TER10, and TER15. The percentages of morphologically normal preantral follicles in non-cultured ovarian tissue (control) was 73.2% and after five days of culture, there was a decrease on these percentages in all treatments (P<0.05) when compared with non-cultured control. Culture of ovarian cortex for five days increased the percentages of follicular activation in all treatments (P<0.05). Ultrastructural analysis did not confirm the integrity of caprine preantral follicles cultured for five days in medium containing antioxidants. This study demonstrated that alpha-tocopherol and ternatin can promote follicular activation; however, addition of these antioxidants in the tested concentrations reduced the follicular viability after in vitro culture.