The study investigated the effects of sperm sorting, capacitation treatment and co-cultivation on sexed bovine in vitro embryo production. The effect of treatment and co-culture on production of embryos of the preferred sex from unsorted sperm was also studied. Sperm from five breeding bulls was used for fertilization of mature oocytes as follows: Experiment 1, sorted and unsorted sperm (bulls A-E) treated only with heparin in standard co-cultures; Experiment 2, sorted sperm (bulls A-E) treated with heparin-PHE (penicillamine, hypotaurine, and epinephrine) or heparin-caffeine in drop co-cultures; and Experiment 3, unsorted sperm (bull E) treated with either heparin-PHE or heparin-caffeine in both standard and drop co-cultures. In all bulls, treatment with heparin resulted in significantly (p < .05) reduced cleavage and blastocyst rates from sorted sperm, as compared with those from unsorted sperm. In bulls A, B, D and E, treatment of sorted sperm with heparin-PHE in drops significantly increased the blastocyst rate (p < .05). In unsorted sperm of bull E, heparin-PHE treatment in drops resulted in the XX/XY sex ratio inverse to that obtained by heparin-caffeine treatment in standard co-cultures (32.3%/67.7% and 66.7%/33.3%, respectively). In conclusion, the treatment of sorted sperm with heparin-PHE in modified drop co-cultures can be recommended for production of in vitro sexed embryos. The use of unsorted sperm for production of embryos of the preferred sex by selected capacitation treatment and co-culture can be the method of choice in bulls with low IVF yields from sorted sperm.

中文翻译：

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通过选择精子处理和共培养系统可以提高体外牛胚胎的生产

该研究调查了精子分选、获能处理和共培养对牛体外胚胎生产的影响。还研究了处理和共培养对从未分选的精子产生偏好性别的胚胎的影响。来自五只育种公牛的精子用于成熟卵母细胞的受精如下：实验1，在标准共培养物中仅用肝素处理分选和未分选的精子（公牛AE）；实验 2，用肝素-PHE（青霉胺、亚牛磺酸和肾上腺素）或肝素-咖啡因滴共培养物处理的分选精子（公牛 AE）；和实验 3，未分类的精子（公牛 E）在标准和滴液共培养物中用肝素-PHE 或肝素-咖啡因处理。在所有公牛中，肝素治疗导致显着（p < .05) 与未分选精子相比，分选精子的卵裂率和囊胚率降低。在公牛 A、B、D 和 E 中，用肝素-PHE 滴剂处理分选的精子显着增加了囊胚率 ( p  < .05)。在公牛 E 的未分类精子中，滴注肝素-PHE 处理导致 XX/XY 性别比与标准共培养中肝素-咖啡因处理获得的性别比相反（分别为 32.3%/67.7% 和 66.7%/33.3%） . 总之，可以推荐在改良的液滴共培养物中用肝素-PHE 处理分选的精子用于体外生产有性别的胚胎。使用未分选的精子通过选择的获能处理和共培养来生产首选性别的胚胎可以是选择分选精子的 IVF 产量低的公牛的方法。