Chlorogenic acid supplementation during in vitro maturation improves maturation, fertilization and developmental competence of porcine oocytes

<jats:title>Contents</jats:title><jats:p>Chlorogenic acid (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CGA</jats:styled-content>) is a quinic acid conjugate of caffeic acid, and a phytochemical found in many fruits and beverages that acts as an antioxidant. The present study investigated the effects of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CGA</jats:styled-content> supplementation during in vitro maturation (IVM), on in vitro development of porcine oocytes, to improve the porcine in vitro production (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">IVP</jats:styled-content>) system. Oocytes were matured either without (control) or with <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CGA</jats:styled-content> (10, 50, 100 and 200 μM). Subsequently, the matured oocytes were fertilized and cultured in vitro for 7 day. The rates of maturation, fertilization and blastocyst formation of oocytes matured with 50 μM <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CGA</jats:styled-content> were significantly (<jats:italic>p </jats:italic>< .05) higher than those of the control oocytes. Hydrogen peroxide (H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>O<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>) is one of the reactive oxygen species and induces <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">DNA</jats:styled-content> damage in porcine oocytes. When oocytes were matured with 1 mM H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>O<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> to assess the protective effect of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CGA</jats:styled-content>, 50 μM <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CGA</jats:styled-content> supplementation improved the maturation rate and the proportion of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">DNA</jats:styled-content>‐fragmented nuclei in oocytes compared with control oocytes matured without <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CGA</jats:styled-content>. Moreover, when oocytes were matured with either 50 μM <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CGA</jats:styled-content> (control) or caffeic acid (10, 50 and 100 μM), the rates of maturation, fertilization and the blastocyst formation of oocytes matured with 50 μM <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CGA</jats:styled-content> were similar to those of oocytes matured with 10 and 50 μM caffeic acid. Our results suggest that <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CGA</jats:styled-content> has comparable effects to caffeic acid, and IVM with 50 μM <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CGA</jats:styled-content> is particularly beneficial to IVP of porcine embryos and protects oocytes from <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">DNA</jats:styled-content> damage induced by oxidative stress. Supplementation of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CGA</jats:styled-content> to the maturation medium has a potential to improve porcine <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">IVP</jats:styled-content> system.</jats:p>