Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

In vitro maturation of immature oocytes from ovarian tissue prior to shipment to a cryobank

  • Gynecologic Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine
  • Published:
Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Female fertility preservation prior to gonadotoxic therapies can be achieved by the cryopreservation of ovarian cortical tissue. Immature oocytes may be recovered during the preparation, matured in vitro and lead to live births, thereby providing an additional option for fertility preservation. The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of this approach in a setting with unilateral biopsy of a small piece of ovarian tissue and minimal tissue preparation prior to shipment to an external cryobank.

Methods

A prospective observational clinical study in an academic center was performed from January 2018 through December 2019. Ovarian tissue was obtained laparoscopically. Immature oocytes were recovered by minimal preparation of the tissue before shipment to an external cryobank for cryopreservation. In vitro maturation was performed on recovered immature oocytes.

Results

Twelve patients were enrolled. Immature oocytes could be recovered for all. The maturation rate was 38.9% (n = 14/36). Metaphase II (MII) were either directly used for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) with a fertilization rate of 66.6% (n = 4/6) or vitrified (n = 8). PNs were cryopreserved (n = 4). Vitrified MII were warmed with a post-warming vitality rate of 75.0% (n = 3/4) and used for ICSI with a fertilization rate of 33.3% (n = 1/3).

Conclusions

Immature oocytes can be successfully retrieved from ovarian tissue through minimal tissue preparation prior to shipment to a cryobank, matured in vitro, fertilized and cryopreserved for potential future fertility treatments. The total number of oocytes available for fertility preservation can be increased even without controlled ovarian stimulation in a situation where only ovarian biopsy for cryopreservation is performed.

Trial registration

German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS), DRKS00013170. Registered 11 December 2017, https://www.drks.de/drks_web/navigate.do?navigationId=trial.HTML&TRIAL_ID=DRKS00013170.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Jemal A, Bray F, Center MM, Ferlay J, Ward E, Forman D (2011) Global cancer statistics. CA Cancer J Clin 61(2):69–90

    Google Scholar 

  2. Howlader M, Heaton N, Rela M (2011) Resection of liver metastases from breast cancer: towards a management guideline. Int J Surg 9(4):285–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Meirow D, Nugent D (2001) The effects of radiotherapy and chemotherapy on female reproduction. Hum Reprod Update 7(6):535–543

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Pretalli JB, Frontczak Franck S, Pazart L, Roux C, Amiot C, Group D (2019) Development of ovarian tissue autograft to restore ovarian function: protocol for a french multicenter cohort study. JMIR Res Protoc 8(9):e12944

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Ruggeri M, Pagan E, Bagnardi V, Bianco N, Gallerani E, Buser K et al (2019) Fertility concerns, preservation strategies and quality of life in young women with breast cancer: baseline results from an ongoing prospective cohort study in selected European Centers. Breast 47:85–92

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Oktay K, Harvey BE, Partridge AH, Quinn GP, Reinecke J, Taylor HS et al (2018) Fertility preservation in patients with cancer: ASCO clinical practice guideline update. J Clin Oncol 36(19):1994–2001

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Uzelac PS, Delaney AA, Christensen GL, Bohler HC, Nakajima ST (2015) Live birth following in vitro maturation of oocytes retrieved from extracorporeal ovarian tissue aspiration and embryo cryopreservation for 5 years. Fertil Steril 104(5):1258–1260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Abir R, Ben-Aharon I, Garor R, Yaniv I, Ash S, Stemmer SM et al (2016) Cryopreservation of in vitro matured oocytes in addition to ovarian tissue freezing for fertility preservation in paediatric female cancer patients before and after cancer therapy. Hum Reprod 31(4):750–762

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Revel A, Koler M, Simon A, Lewin A, Laufer N, Safran A (2003) Oocyte collection during cryopreservation of the ovarian cortex. Fertil Steril 79(5):1237–1239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Segers I, Mateizel I, Van Moer E, Smitz J, Tournaye H, Verheyen G et al (2015) In vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes recovered from ovariectomy specimens in the laboratory: a promising “ex vivo” method of oocyte cryopreservation resulting in the first report of an ongoing pregnancy in Europe. J Assist Reprod Genet 32(8):1221–1231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Huang JY, Tulandi T, Holzer H, Tan SL, Chian RC (2008) Combining ovarian tissue cryobanking with retrieval of immature oocytes followed by in vitro maturation and vitrification: an additional strategy of fertility preservation. Fertil Steril 89(3):567–572

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Roesner S, Dietrich JE, Weigert J, Montag M, Toth B, Strowitzki T (2017) Time-lapse imaging reveals differences in growth dynamics of embryos after in vitro maturation compared with conventional stimulation. Fertil Steril 107(3):606-12 e3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Roesner S, von Wolff M, Elsaesser M, Roesner K, Reuner G, Pietz J et al (2017) Two-year development of children conceived by IVM: a prospective controlled single-blinded study. Hum Reprod 32(6):1341–1350

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Prasath EB, Chan ML, Wong WH, Lim CJ, Tharmalingam MD, Hendricks M et al (2014) First pregnancy and live birth resulting from cryopreserved embryos obtained from in vitro matured oocytes after oophorectomy in an ovarian cancer patient. Hum Reprod 29(2):276–278

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Fasano G, Dechene J, Antonacci R, Biramane J, Vannin AS, Van Langendonckt A et al (2017) Outcomes of immature oocytes collected from ovarian tissue for cryopreservation in adult and prepubertal patients. Reprod Biomed Online 34(6):575–582

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Liebenthron J, Montag M, Reinsberg J, Koster M, Isachenko V, van der Ven K et al (2019) Overnight ovarian tissue transportation for centralized cryobanking: a feasible option. Reprod Biomed Online 38(5):740–749

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Liu M, Zhou W, Chu D, Fu L, Sha W, Liu S et al (2017) A modified vitrification method reduces spindle and chromosome abnormalities. Syst Biol Reprod Med 63(3):199–205

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Anderson RA, Brewster DH, Wood R, Nowell S, Fischbacher C, Kelsey TW et al (2018) The impact of cancer on subsequent chance of pregnancy: a population-based analysis. Hum Reprod 33(7):1281–1290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Hourvitz A, Yerushalmi GM, Maman E, Raanani H, Elizur S, Brengauz M et al (2015) Combination of ovarian tissue harvesting and immature oocyte collection for fertility preservation increases preservation yield. Reprod Biomed Online 31(4):497–505

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all members of the Heidelberg University Women’s Hospital’s IVF laboratory, as well as all members of the Department of Gynecologic Endocrinology and Fertility Disorders for their excellent support and valuable discussions.

Funding

The Department of Gynecologic Endocrinology and Fertility Disorders, Heidelberg, Germany is supported by the Dietmar Hopp Foundation, making this study possible. Edison Capp is a scholarship recipient from CNPq-Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gynecologic Endocrinology and Fertility Disorders, Heidelberg University Women’s Hospital, Im Neuenheimer Feld 440, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Jens Erik Dietrich, Julia Jauckus, Sabrina Hoffmann, Edison Capp, Thomas Strowitzki & Ariane Germeyer

  2. UniCareD, University Cryobank for Assisted Reproductive Medicine and Fertility Protection at UniKiD, University Women’s Hospital Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Jana Liebenthron

  3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medicine School, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Edison Capp

Authors
  1. Jens Erik Dietrich
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Julia Jauckus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sabrina Hoffmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jana Liebenthron
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Edison Capp
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Thomas Strowitzki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Ariane Germeyer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

JE Dietrich: Protocol/project development, Data collection or management, Data analysis, Manuscript writing/editing. S Hoffmann: Data collection or management. J Jauckus: Data collection or management. J Liebenthron: Protocol/project development, Manuscript writing/editing. E Capp: Data analysis, Manuscript writing/editing. T Strowitzki: Protocol/project development, Data analysis, Manuscript writing/editing. A Germeyer: Protocol/project development, Data collection or management, Manuscript writing/editing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jens Erik Dietrich.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics approval

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Medical Faculty Heidelberg (S-222/2017) and conducted according to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Consent to participate

All patients have provided consent to participate.

Availability of data and material

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Code availability

Not applicable.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Dietrich, J.E., Jauckus, J., Hoffmann, S. et al. In vitro maturation of immature oocytes from ovarian tissue prior to shipment to a cryobank. Arch Gynecol Obstet 302, 1019–1024 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-020-05643-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-020-05643-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation