S. Samuel Kim

BACKGROUND: Previous studies showed that immature oocytes stored in ovarian tissue could develop to the mature stage after transplantation. However, the quality and competency of the oocytes developed in xenografted ovarian tissue have never been investigated. As a pilot study to investigate this uncharted issue, we evaluated microtubule organization and chromatin configuration of human oocytes harvested from xenografted frozen–thawed ovarian tissue. METHODS: Frozen–thawed human ovarian tissue was transplanted into severe combined immunodeficient mice. All animals were stimulated with gonadotrophin from 20 weeks after transplantation. Grafts were recovered 36 h after hCG administration. The oocytes were retrieved from the antral follicles (>2 mm diameter), cultured in vitro, stained for microtubule and chromatin localization. RESULTS: Five oocytes from 21 female mice and seven oocytes from nine male mice were retrieved. Immunocytochemical examinations of these oocytes after in vitro maturation revealed only two developed to the metaphase II stage. Most oocytes were between prophase and metaphase with abnormal microtubule organization and chromatin configuration. CONCLUSIONS: Immature oocytes in stored human ovarian tissue can grow to maturity in host animals after xenotransplantation. Retrieval of oocytes from the xenograft can be carried out and is reproducible. However, many oocytes, grown in host animals and further matured in vitro, showed aberrant microtubule organization and chromatin patterns.

A large proportion of childhood and young cancer patients will lose their fertility after aggressive cancer therapy because of the gonadotoxicities of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. One of the strategies to preserve fertility for those facing premature ovarian failure is ovarian tissue banking. We are seeing a growing enthusiasm about this emerging technology. At the same time, scepticism is prevalent, as the efficacy of ovarian tissue banking for fertility restoration in humans has not yet been proved. However, there is ample evidence of its efficacy in animal studies. Ovarian tissue banking requires further investigations and should be considered experimental in humans at present.