title: Human ovarian tissue cryopreservation: effect of sucrose concentration on morphological features after thawing.
abstract: Recent improvements in techniques in clinical assisted reproduction have led to an increased interest in the cryopreservation of human ovarian tissue as a way of preserving fertility and ovarian steroidogenic activity in young cancer patients. Acceptable follicular survival in frozen-thawed human ovarian tissue has generally been reported. Since a 0.3 mol/l sucrose concentration in cryopreservation solutions evidently increases human oocyte survival after cryopreservation, the aim of this study was to observe the effect of sucrose concentrations of 0.2 mol/l and 0.3 mol/l on human ovarian tissue survival after thawing. Ovarian cortical slices from 10 patients, 22-36 years of age, were cryopreserved slowly using 0.2 mol/l or 0.3 mol/l sucrose with 1,2-propanediol (1.5 mol/l) as the cryoprotectants. Light and electron microscopy were used for the histological analyses. Results showed that both treatments produced an increase in damaged cells; however, the use of 0.3 mol/l sucrose showed a smaller percentage of damaged germ cells than 0.2 mol/l sucrose, and therefore was less detrimental to the thawed ovarian tissue. However as the damage occurred principally in the stroma and follicular cells rather than in the oocytes, the suitability of these cryopreservation protocols must be further evaluated prior to considering the use of stored ovarian cortex for autografting after thawing.
authors.affiliation: Mother-Infant Department, Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Largo del Pozzo 71, 41100 Modena, Italy. tizianamarsella@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Tiziana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Marsella
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sena
authors.forename: Susanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xella
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: La Marca
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giulini
authors.forename: Anto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Pol
authors.forename: Annibale
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Volpe
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Marzona
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002470:Cell Survival; D015925:Cryopreservation; D003451:Cryoprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D010053:Ovary / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000648:ultrastructure; D013048:Specimen Handling; D013395:Sucrose / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D003451:Cryoprotective Agents; D013395:Sucrose