In vitro growth and maturation of primordial follicles and immature oocytes

Evelyn E Telfer, Claus Andersen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Cryopreservation of ovarian tissue to preserve the fertility of girls and young women at high risk of sterility is now widely practiced. Pieces of cryopreserved ovarian cortex can be thawed and autografted to restore fertility, but because of the risks of reintroduction of the cancer, transplantation may not be possible for girls and women with blood-borne leukemias or cancers with a high risk of ovarian metastasis. Cryopreserved ovarian tissue contains mainly primordial follicles but also provides access to immature oocytes from small antral follicles, which may be matured in vitro to provide an additional source of mature oocytes. So in cases in which transplantation is contraindicated, fertility restoration could be safely achieved in the laboratory either by in vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes aspirated from growing follicles or by the complete in vitro growth (IVG) and maturation (IVM) of primordial follicles to produce fertile metaphase II (MII) oocytes. The development of IVM and IVG methods to support all stages of oocytes available within ovarian tissue will maximize the potential for all patients undergoing fertility preservation.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1116-1125
Number of pages9
JournalFertility and Sterility
Volume115
Issue number5
Early online date3 Apr 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2021

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • In vitro follicle activation (IVA)
  • in vitro maturation (IVM)
  • in vitro growth (IVG)
  • in vitro growth and maturation (IVGM)
  • in vitro fertilization (IVF)
  • ovarian cryopreservation follicle culture
  • ovary
  • oocyte

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