Metabolomics of follicular fluid reveals the impact of heat stress on OPU-IVP efficiency in dairy cows.

Authors

Yifan Li, Yaochang Wei, Mingmao Yang, Mengkun Sun, Longgang Yan, Yifan Yang, Yuan Zhang, Yongsheng Wang, Pengfei Lin, Yaping Jin

Published in

Journal of animal science. Jun 24, 2025. Epub Jun 24, 2025.

Abstract

Heat stress (HS) is a major challenge in global dairy farming, severely affecting reproductive performance. However, the molecular mechanisms by which it regulates oocyte development by altering the follicular microenvironment are unclear. This study assessed HS-related indicators in summer and autumn, dividing cows into HS and non-heat stress (TN) groups to evaluate the effect of heat stress on oocyte pick-up and in vitro embryo production (OPU-IVP) efficiency and used untargeted metabolomics to analyze its impact on follicular fluid (FF) metabolic characteristics. The results showed that heat stress significantly affected the physiological and production performance of dairy cows. Serum and FF analysis showed significant changes in oxidative stress indicators (SOD, GSH-Px, CAT, MDA, T-AOC, ROS), inflammatory factors (IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α), heat shock proteins (HSP70 and HSP90), and steroid hormones (E2 and P4) induced by HS. Moreover, HS significantly reduced the total number of oocytes, oocyte recovery rate, proportions of grade A and B oocytes, cleavage rate, and blastocyst rate in OPU-IVP. Untargeted metabolomics analysis revealed 1544 differential metabolites in FF, which were mainly enriched in pathways such as steroid hormone biosynthesis, neuroactive ligand-receptor interactions, D-amino acid metabolism, tyrosine metabolism, phenylalanine metabolism and tryptophan metabolism. In conclusion, this study not only reveals for the first time the metabolic characteristics of FF under HS and the potential mechanisms affecting oocyte development, but also provides innovative insights for developing precise interventions to improve OPU-IVP efficiency in dairy cows under HS.

PMID:
40554674
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 25 Jun 2025.

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