Abstract

Background:
Vitrification of oocytes can lead to the formation of reactive oxygen species during the in vitro maturation and warming processes. In this study, there is a comparison between the use of commercial cryoprotectant and ethylene glycol + sucrose to observe the antioxidant activity that arises during oxidative stress, namely superoxide dismutase (SOD). SOD is produced to counteract free radicals that are damaging to cells; the higher the level of SOD in a cell, the further the cell is from damage.

Aim:
The aim of this study is to determine whether different cryoprotectant use can affect the intracellular SOD levels in oocytes.

Methods:
This study is an experimental laboratory study using goat oocytes divided into 3 treatment groups: control (K) goat oocytes without vitrification, Treatment 1 (P1) goat oocytes vitrified using a commercial cryoprotectant, and Treatment 2 (P2) goat oocytes vitrified using ethylene glycol and 1-M sucrose. All groups were vitrified for 1 week, followed by a warming process. Then, the SOD levels were calculated using SOD ELISA kit.

Results:
The results showed that this study has a significance level (p < 0.05) with the control group K having the lowest SOD levels and P2 having the highest SOD levels.

Conclusion:
Therefore, it can be concluded that the use of ethylene glycol as a cryoprotectant can maintain SOD levels in oocyte cells.

Key words: Ethylene Glycol, Oocyte, ROS, SOD