title: Cryopreservation of whole ovaries with vascular pedicles: vitrification or conventional freezing?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the efficacy of vitrification and conventional freezing of whole ovaries.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ovaries obtained from 5-year-old female bovines were cryopreserved by conventional freezing, rapid freezing and vitrification. The ovarian cortical strips were cryopreserved by conventional freezing. Follicular viability was assessed using the trypan blue test; the percentage of morphologically normal primordial follicles, hormones concentrations in the culture supernatants, and lactate dehyrogenase levels were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The efficacy of cryopreservation of whole ovaries by vitrification was higher than those by conventional freezing and rapid freezing. Conventional freezing of ovarian cortical strips was more effective than cryopreservation of whole ovaries by conventional freezing, rapid freezing, and vitrification.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Vitrification seems to be more suitable than conventional freezing for cryopreservation of whole ovaries. However, further studies are required to improve the efficacy of vitrifying whole ovaries.
authors.affiliation: Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Center for Reproductive Medicine, Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, 324 Jingwu Road, Jinan, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sheng
authors.forename: Yong-Zhi
authors.initials: YZ
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Hong-Yan
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zi-Jiang
authors.initials: ZJ
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D015925:Cryopreservation / Q000379:methods*; D003451:Cryoprotective Agents; D005260:Female; D005615:Freezing; D010053:Ovary / Q000098:blood supply / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D058989:Vitrification
chemical_list: D003451:Cryoprotective Agents