title: Recovery of fertility after grafting of cryopreserved germinative tissue in female rabbits following radiotherapy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Many cancer survivors face infertility as a consequence of the aggressive treatment they must undergo. Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue before chemotherapy or radiotherapy may allow for tissue transplantation after the treatment, and restoration of fertility. We tested the potential of an orthotopic autografting of cryopreserved germinative tissue in female rabbits with ovarian failure following radiotherapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ten adult multiparous female rabbits were randomly allocated into two groups, five in group I (control) and five in group II (transplant). All rabbits underwent right oophorectomy with cryopreservation of the germinative tissue, followed by sterilization of the remaining left ovary by radiotherapy. Later, group II rabbits received in the irradiated left ovary an implant of the frozen germinative tissue from the right ovary, whose small pieces were freely spread intracortically in a procedure we named 'intracortical sowing of germinative tissue' (ISGT).
  
  
  RESULTS
  All group II rabbits conceived following spontaneous mating within 6 months of the transplant, whereas none of the remaining rabbits in group I had conceived up to 11 months after transplant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that fertility can be restored in rabbits by sowing cortical tissue in a previously irradiated ovary. The clinical feasibility of this technique remains to be determined.
authors.affiliation: Materbaby-Reprodução Humana e Genética, Maringá (PR) 87 013-230, Brazil. almodin@irapida.com.br
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Almodin
authors.forename: V C
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Minguetti-Câmara
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Meister
authors.forename: J O H R
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Cavalcante
authors.forename: M R M
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Radaelli
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Bahls
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Moron
authors.forename: C G V
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Murta
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015925:Cryopreservation; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D010053:Ovary / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000528:radiation effects* / Q000637:transplantation*; D011817:Rabbits; D011897:Random Allocation; D020127:Recovery of Function; D013245:Sterilization, Reproductive / Q000379:methods*; D016378:Tissue Transplantation / Q000379:methods