Does Soybean (Glycine max) Supplementation Increase Oocyte Viability, Decrease Oocyte Apoptosis and Improve Embryo Development Quality? An Experimental Study

Introduction: One of the important factors in Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) is embryo quality that depends on oocyte quality. Maternal nutrition in form of soybean supplementation is thought to have benefits in oocyte quality. To determine the effect soybean supplementation to the embryo quality from oocyte side. Methods: This experimental study involved female mice from Swiss strain aged 6 weeks that were divided into two groups, group with soybean (soybean group/SG) and group without soybeans (pellet group/PG). Follicles were collected and denuded to get oocytes. The oocytes were stained with MitoTracker for assessing the mitochondrial membrane potential and TUNEL for assessing the apoptotic level. Colour intensity was assessed using a confocal microscope and determined using ImageJ software. Sperms were extracted surgically from the epididymis-vas deferens and performed preparation prior to intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) procedure. Then, the embryos were cultured and observed for the quality. Result: In TUNEL test, the average colour intensity of the SG was lower compared to the PG, significantly (p=0.03). While in the Mito Tracker test, the average colour intensity for the SG was higher compared to PG, not significantly (p=1.08). In addition, the embryo development on Day-1 and Day-3 showed more good embryo quality of SG compared to PG, significantly (p=0.03). Conclusion: Soybean supplementation improved embryo quality at the cleavage stage by decreasing apoptosis of the oocytes rather than increasing the viability the oocytes.

Key words: Oocyte, Soybean, Apoptosis, Embryo development, Embryo quality.