Fatty Acids and Metabolomic Composition of Follicular Fluid Collected from Environments Associated with Good and Poor Oocyte Competence in Goats

Abstract

In goats, embryo oocyte competence is affected by follicle size, regardless of the age of the females. In previous studies, we found differences in blastocyst development between oocytes coming of small (< 3 mm) and large follicles (> 3 mm) in prepubertal (1–2 month‐old) goats. Oocyte competence and follicular fluid (FF) composition changes throughout follicle growth. The aim of this study was to analyze the fatty acids (FAs) composition and metabolomic profiles of FF recovered from small and large follicles of prepubertal goats and follicles of adult goats. FAs were analyzed by chromatography and metabolites by 1H‐nuclear magnetic resonance (1H‐NMR) spectrometry. The results showed important differences between adult and prepubertal follicles: a) the presence of α,β‐glucose in adult and no detection in prepubertal; b) lactate, ‐N‐(CH3)3 groups and inositol were higher in prepubertal; c) the percentage of linolenic acid, total saturated fatty acids and n‐3 PUFAs were higher in adults; and d) the percentage of linoleic acid, total MUFAs, PUFAs, n‐6 PUFAs and n‐6 PUFAs:n‐3 PUFAs ratio were higher in prepubertal goats. No significant differences were found in the follicle size of prepubertal goats, despite the differences in oocyte competence for in vitro embryo production.