Mogroside V protects porcine oocytes from in vitro ageing by reducing oxidative stress through SIRT1 upregulation

Abstract

Postovulatory ageing compromises oocyte quality and subsequent development in various manners. We aimed to assay the protective effects of mogroside V on porcine oocyte quality during <i>in vitro</i> ageing and explore the related causes. We observed that mogroside V can effectively maintain normal oocyte morphology and early embryo development competence after prolonged culture for 24 h. Moreover, mogroside V can markedly reduce reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, alleviate spindle formation and chromosome alignment abnormalities, improve mitochondrial contents, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels and the membrane potential (ΔΨm), and reduce early apoptosis in aged oocytes. We examined the molecular changes and found that <i>SIRT1</i> expression was decreased in <i>in vitro</i> aged oocytes but was maintained by exposure to mogroside V. However, when <i>SIRT1</i> was successfully inhibited by the specific inhibitor EX-527, mogroside V could not reduce ROS levels or alleviate abnormal spindle organization and chromosome misalignment. In summary, our results demonstrated that mogroside V can alleviate the deterioration of oocyte quality during <i>in vitro</i> ageing, possibly by reducing oxidative stress through SIRT1 upregulation.