Oocyte developmental competence is reduced in sows during the seasonal infertility period

The modern domestic sow exhibits a period of impaired reproductive performance during the late summer and early autumn months, known as 'seasonal infertility'. A reduction in farrowing rate due to pregnancy loss is the most economically important manifestation of seasonal infertility. The aim of the present study was to determine whether there are changes in oocyte developmental competence associated with season. Ovaries were collected in pairs from sows sourced from commercial piggeries and slaughtered 4 days after weaning during winter and summer-autumn. Following oocyte IVM and parthenogenetic activation, the ability of oocytes from large follicles to form blastocysts was greater in winter (54.94 +/- 6.11%) than in summer (21.09 +/- 5.59%). During winter, the proportion of oocytes developing to the blastocyst stage from large follicles was significantly higher (54.94 +/- 6.11%) than those oocytes from small follicles (23.17 +/- 6.02%). There was no effect of season on the proportion of oocytes developing to the blastocyst stage from small follicles. There was no effect of follicle size on blastocyst formation from those oocytes recovered during summer. Blastocysts derived from small follicles during summer had the lowest number of cells (24.25 +/- 1.48) compared with blastocysts derived from large follicles during winter (37.5 +/- 1.3; P<0.05). The mean progesterone concentration in follicular fluid collected from small follicles was greater in winter than summer (1235.55 +/- 164.47 v. 701.3 +/- 115.5 nmol L-1, respectively; P<0.001). The mean progesterone concentration in the follicular fluid of large follicles was also greater in winter than in summer (2470.9 +/- 169.1 v. 1469.2 +/- 156.5 nmol L-1, respectively; P<0.001). Regression analysis revealed a positive correlation between progesterone concentration and oocyte developmental competence. The results indicate that porcine oocytes fail to reach their full developmental potential during the period of seasonal infertility, suggesting that the pregnancy losses observed at this time of year may be due to reduced oocyte developmental competence.