Enhancing Efficiency in Bovine Breeding: OPU and Its Impact on Livestock Production

Transvaginal Ultrasound-Guided Follicular Aspiration (OPU, Ovum Pick-up) is a technique that was originally developed for assisted reproduction in humans (Lenz & Lauritsen, 1982) and later adapted for use in cattle in the Netherlands in the late 1980s (Pieterse et al., 1988).

This technique offers numerous possibilities, as it can be applied to adult cows in various physiological states: cyclic, non-cyclic, during the first third of gestation, and in those that do not respond to hormonal stimuli. It is also applicable to older animals with non-genetic reproductive disorders (Galli et al., 2001), as well as prepubescent heifers and calves from the 6th to 8th month of age (Taneja et al., 2000).

Repetitive recovery of oocytes through OPU allows for obtaining the maximum possible offspring from animals with high genetic value. It accelerates the processes of selection and animal improvement (both paternal and maternal), serving as an extraordinary source of oocytes for cloning and transgenesis.

OPU represents an alternative to in vitro production (IVP) of bovine embryos using oocytes from the slaughterhouse. In OPU, we work with oocytes obtained from live cows using genetically known material. This technique produces a greater number of embryos (up to 100 embryos per year per cow) compared to those obtained through standard protocols of embryo transfer (ET).

The objective of this master’s thesis has been to refine the OPU technique at the Veterinary Teaching Farm of the University of Murcia. The methodology described by Oropeza et al. (2004), conducted at the Institüt für Nutztiergenetik in Mariensee, Germany, was followed. Several members of the Department of Physiology of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Murcia have undertaken visits to this center.

Once the entire system was under control, we began evaluating the performance in obtaining oocytes and determining parameters of in vitro maturation (IVM) and in vitro fertilization (IVF).