The purpose of this study was to determine effects of oxytocin and interleukin-1α on in vitro development of bovine embryo cultured with endometrial epithelial and stromal cells isolated from bovine uterus. The expressions of COX-2 mRNA in bovine endometrium were also studied. When embryos were cultured with epithelial cells, the rate of blastocysts was significantly (p<0.05) higher in embryos treated with oxytocin than that of control group. The rate of hatched blastocysts was also significantly (p<0.05) higher in embryos treated with oxytocin than those of two control groups. On the other hand, when the embryos were cultured with stromal cells, the rate of blastocysts were significantly (p<0.05) higher than those of groups treated with IL-1α, oxytocin and control with stromal cells than that of control group without stromal cells. The rate of blastocysts hatched were also significantly (p<0.05) higher in group treated with IL-1α than those of control group without stromal cells and oxytocin group. In another experiment, COX-2 gene was expressed in embryo group treated with oxytocin during the co-culture of embryos with epithelial cells. In contrast, COX-2 mRNA was expressed in group treated with IL-1α when the embryos were cultured with stromal cell. This result shows that oxytocin and IL-1α were stimulate embryo development in vitro when embryos were cultured with epithelial and stromal cells, and can affect the development of bovine embryos in the uterus.

출산과 수유 과정에서의 잘 알려진 기능 때문에, 옥시토신(oxytocin, OT)은 '여성 뇌하수체후엽 호르몬(female nerohypophyseal hormone)'으로 알려져 왔다. 그러나 최신 연구들에 따르면 OT가 중추신경계와 말초조직 수준에서 수컷 생식을 조절하는 국부적인 기능을 가짐이 알려졌다. 일부 실험용 설치류에서, OT는 사회적인 자극들에 반응하여 뇌의 특정 지역으로 분비되는데, 이 뇌 OT와 그 수용체(OTR)를 매개로한 작용들은 수