Effect of Numerous Amino Acids During in vitro Fertilization of Ovums and Epididymal Sperm in Iraqi Awassi Sheep

Abstract

In present experiment, the effect of three amino acids, methionine, L-arginine, and D-alanine, on the process of producing embryos in the laboratory, was studied. A 100 mature ovaries of Awassi sheep slaughtered in the Al-Saadoun slaughterhouse in Nineveh Governorate/Iraq were used. The samples were transported using a refrigerated box after washing with physiological saline and antibiotics. The insemination took place in the IVF laboratory of Soran Hospital in Erbil Governorate from 1/9/2022 to 1/5/2023. An eighty mature eggs with very good characteristics were collected and divided into four groups (20 eggs per group) then specified amino acid was added to each group, three groups (amino acid per group) and the fourth group was left as a control group without addition. The ripening and inoculation process was carried out according to the protocol of the laboratory in which the experiment was conducted. Results of this experiment showed that the arginine group (0.4 Mm) recorded the highest fertilization rate obtained (87.5%) based on the evaluation of embryos when kept in a carbon dioxide incubator (CO2 incubator) after 120 hours of maturation and fertilization, followed by Methionine group (0.2 Mm), control group and finally alanine group (15 Mm), where the results were (85%), (66.6%), (0.0%) respectively depended up on embryo evaluation (Grade A embryo). It is concluded from the current study that the arginine was the best of the three amino acids in stimulating divisions of the egg and improving the percentage of embryos produced in the laboratory after incubation for 120 hours.