Small Ruminant Research 123 (2015) 278–286 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Small Ruminant Research jou rn al h om epa ge : w ww.elsevier.com/locate/smallrumres Influence of caprine arthritis encephalitis on expression of ovulation related genes and activation of primordial follicles cultured in presence of phytohemagglutinin, epidermal growth factor or both T.A. Lopes a , J.J.N. Costa a , R.P. Ribeiro a , J.R.S. Passos a , M.A.A. Soares a , J.G. Alves Filho a , E.V. Cunha a , R. van den Hurk b , A.A. Pinheiro c , J.R.V. Silva a,∗ a Biotechnology Nucleus of Sobral – NUBIS, Federal University of Ceara, CEP 62042-280 Sobral, CE, Brazil b Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, PO Box 80.163, Utrecht, The Netherlands c Goat and Sheep National Research Center (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation – EMBRAPA), Brazil a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 6 September 2014 Received in revised form 17 November 2014 Accepted 20 November 2014 Available online 10 December 2014 Keywords: Goat Ovary Follicles CAEV Phytohemmaglutinin TNF a b s t r a c t This study investigated the levels of mRNA for BMP15, GDF9 and BMPR1B in preantral fol- licles, as well as in cumulus oocyte complex (COC) and follicular walls from antral follicles of healthy and CAEV infected goats by real-time PCR. In addition, the influence of phyto- hemagglutinin (PHA) and EGF on activation of primordial follicles and on expression of mRNA for TNFa and its receptors in cultured ovarian tissue from healthy and infected goats was evaluated. The expression of BMP15 and GDF9 in primordial/primary follicles from infected goats was significantly higher than in healthy animals, whereas the expression of BMP15 and GDF9 in secondary follicles from infected goats was significantly lower. The expression of mRNA for BMP15 in follicular wall of antral follicles from infected goats was significantly higher than in healthy goats. CAEV infection did not influence the ability of primordial follicles to develop in vitro, but the presence of EGF in culture medium signif- icantly increased follicular diameter in healthy and infected animals. Ovarian tissue from infected goats cultured in medium with PHA had primordial follicles with larger diameters than those from healthy animals. An increase of mRNAs for TNF˛ was observed after cul- turing tissue in presence of both EGF and PHA in healthy animals, but this same treatment promoted a reduction of mRNAs for TNFa and increase of TNFR2 transcripts in infected ani- mals. In conclusion, CAEV influences the expression of mRNA for BMP15 and GDF9 in goat ovarian follicles and PHA and EGF differentially regulate the expression of TNFa and TNFR2 in cultured ovarian tissue. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ∗ Corresponding author at: Biotechnology Nucleus of Sobral – NUBIS, Federal University of Ceara, Av. Comandante Maurocélio Rocha Ponte 100, CEP 62041-040 Sobral, CE, Brazil. Tel.: +55 88 36118000; fax: +55 85 9621 5055. E-mail address: jrvsilva@ufc.br (J.R.V. Silva). 1. Introduction Caprine arthritis encephalitis lentivirus (CAEV) infects goats of all ages and causes chronic arthritis, intersti- tial pneumonia and mastitis, compromising economically their productivity (Martínez-Navalón et al., 2013). The high prevalence of CAEV infection is a major concern in many http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2014.11.016 0921-4488/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.