Xenotransplantation of cryopreserved/thawed human ovarian tissue in SCID mice: follicle development within 4 different observation periods

• Main Authors: Ayuandari, S, Winkler, K, Hofer, S, Paulitsch, M, Wildt, L, Ziehr, SC
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: eng ; ger
• ISSN: 0016-5751; 1438-8804
• DOI: 10.1055/s-0034-1374736

Fragestellung: How long should the xenotransplantation of cryopreserved/thawed human ovarian tissue be performed to evaluate the dynamics of follicular growth? Methodik: Cryopreserved/thawed human ovarian tissue was donated from 8 cancer patients. After rapid thawing tissue samples were cut into standardized pieces (3 mm diameter). Two tissue pieces were xenotransplanted into a subcutaneous neck pouch of 6-week-old ovarectomized SCID mice (n = 39) for 4, 8, 12 and 16 weeks. By the end of observation periods, grafts were recovered and processed for histomorphological analysis. Tissue directly after thawing served as pregraft-control. Ergebnisse: 38 out of 39 mice (97.4%) survived the operation. Grafts recovery rate was 97.4% and all grafts were macroscopically comparable to pregraft-controls with visible vascularization. After 4 weeks of xenografting, the percentage of primordial follicles was reduced to 40.4% (n = 14) compared to pregraft-controls (90.5%, n = 10). A reduced percentage of primordial follicles was also observed after 8, 12, and 16 weeks of grafting (27.0%, 14.0%, 10% respectively, n = 4 per group). Whereas the percentage of growing follicles increased after 4, 8, 12 and 16 weeks of grafting (31.4%, 43.2%, 64.2%, and 50%) compared to only less than 1% in pregraft-controls. Antrum formation was already observed within 12 and 16 weeks. Schlussfolgerung: This study shows that follicular growth from the primordial follicle stage to early antral follicle stage can be detected within 12 weeks of xenotransplantation and might help to perform future xenotransplantation experiments more efficiently.