Effects of repeated embryo collection on embryo recovery rate in fertile mares.

The research investigates the impact of frequent embryo collections from fertile mares on embryo retrieval rates and explores the effects of individual mare and seasonality. The study found that the overall embryo recovery rate was 64%, with no significant variation among mares or number of collections, and no seasonal effect was detected in most mares.

Experimental Procedure

• The study was designed to examine the impact of repeated embryo collection on the recovery rates of embryos in fertile mares. Over a period of 30 months, nine mares underwent a total of 153 embryo collections, corresponding to an average of 17 ± 2.2 collections per mare.

Embryo Recovery rate

• The researchers observed an overall embryo recovery rate of 64%. This signifies that 64% of the collected embryos were successfully retrieved during the procedures.
• This recovery rate did not vary significantly among the mares subjected to the procedure, suggesting that individual variations among the mares didn’t have a meaningful impact on the recovery rate.
• Further, there was no evident correlation between recovery rate and the number of successive embryo collections, indicating that the frequency of collections did not affect the recovery rate.

Seasonal Influence and Individual Differences

• The study also examined the potential influence of the season and individual mare on the embryo recovery rates. Among the nine mares, three stopped ovulating from November to February.
• For the remaining six mares, embryonic production proceeded successfully throughout the winter, hence the month or season did not seem to influence the embryo recovery rates.

Summary of Findings

• In conclusion, the study suggests that repeated embryo collection in fertile mares does not negatively impact the recovery rate of embryos. Moreover, the impact of the individual mare or the season on the embryo recovery rates is negligible.