Table 3. Advances in women ovarian tissue vitrification
Reference Tissue Vitrification device Vitrification solution Main outcomes
Zhang et al., 1995. Fragments of fetal ovary (0.5 – 1 mm3) Plastic cryo straws directly plunged into LN2 4.2 mol/L DMSO, 0.35 mol/L SUC and 15 mg/ml BSA Maintaining oocyte quality similar to the fresh tissue after 40 days of tissue culture
Isachenko et al., 2003. Ovarian fragments (0.8 mm x 0.8 mm x 0.8 mm) Straws or grids directly plunged into LN2 40% EG, 0.35 mol/L SUC and 5% egg yolk extract Maintaining the proportion of morphologically normal follicles similar to the fresh tissue
Rahimi et al., 2003. Ovarian fragments (1 ± 0.5 mm3) Straws, grids or metal filings directly plunged into LN2 or into nitrogen vapor 40% EG, 0.35 mol/L SUC and 10% egg yolk extract or 40% EG, 18% Ficoll and 0.35 mol/L SUC Cooling using nitrogen vapor resulted in significantly elevated ROS levels and apoptosis after warming
Rahimi et al., 2004. Ovarian fragments (0.5 x 1.0 x 4.0 mm) Straws directly plunged into LN2 25% Glycerol, 25% EG, 15% FCS and 1% Supercool X-100 (last solution from three steps) No rise in the proportion of necrotic areas after 42 days of xenotransplantation compared to fresh or slow cryopreserved tissue
Gandolfi et al., 2006. Ovarian fragments (1 mm3) Straws directly plunged into LN2 3.58 mol/L EG, 2.82 mol/L DMSO and 20% FCS The addition of DMSO to the vitrification solution reduced primary follicles cryoinjuries
Isachenko et al., 2006. Ovarian fragments (1 x 1 x 5 mm) Cryovials directly plunged into LN2 20% DMSO, 40% EG and 10% SSS (last solution from two steps) Morphologically normal follicles were observed when vitrified ovarian tissue was cultured for 14 days in a large volume of culture medium in combination with stirring
Li et al., 2007. Ovarian fragments (5 x 1 x 1 mm) Minimum drop size directly plunged into LN2 2 mol/L DMSO, 2 mol/L PROH, 0.2 mol/L SUC and 12% HSA Maintaining estradiol and progesterone production during 14 days of tissue culture similar to the slow-frozen tissue
Huang et al., 2008. Ovarian fragments (5 x 1 x 1 mm) Solid-surface vitrification 20% DMSO, 20% EG, 25 mg/ml HSA (gradual dehydration in: 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of vitrification solution) Maintaining the percentage of intact primordial follicles and secretion of estradiol and progesterone within 10 days of tissue culture similar to the slow-frozen tissue
Isachenko et al., 2008. Ovarian fragments (about 1 mm3) Droplet directly plunged into LN2 2.62 mol/L DMSO, 2.6 mol/L acetamide, 1.31 mol/L PROH and 0.0075 mol/L PEG (gradual dehydration in: 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of vitrification solution) Maintaining normally developed follicles similar to the fresh tissue after 12 days of tissue culture
Wang et al., 2008. Ovarian fragments (~ 1–2.5 mm2) Needle directly plunged into LN2 15% EG, 15% DMSO and 0.5 mol/L SUC Maintaining the ultrastructure of stromal cells better than the slow-freezing or the dropping vitrification group
Kagawa et al., 2009. Ovarian fragments (1 x 10 x 10 mm) Metal strip plunged into LN2 (Cryotissue) 20% EG, 20% DMSO, 0.5 mol/l SUC Maintenance of oocyte viability similar to the fresh tissue
Keros et al., 2009. Ovarian fragments (1 x 1-2 x 5-8 mm) Cryo straws (Hand-cut straw) 1.4 mol/L DMSO, 1.5 mol/L EG, 1.5 PROH, 10 mg/mL HSA, and 10% PVP (last solution from three steps) Preservation of ovarian stroma morphology after 1 day of tissue culture better than slow freezing procedure
Rahimi et al., 2010. Ovarian fragments (~ 0.5 x 1 x 1 mm) Droplet directly plunged into LN2 2.62 mol/L DMSO, 2.6 mol/L acetamide, 1.31 mol/L PROH and 0.0075 mol/L PEG (gradual dehydration in: 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of solution) Maintaining the revascularization of ovarian tissue similar to the frozen tissue after 30 days of xenotransplantation
Xiao et al., 2010. Ovarian fragments (~ 2-3 mm2) Needle directly plunged into LN2 2.15 mol/L EG, 1.69 mol/L DMSO and 0.5 mol/L SUC (last solution from two steps) The use of needle immersed vitrification method enabled the use of lower cryoprotectant concentration leading to improvements in tissue cryopreservation
Zhou et al., 2010. Ovarian fragments (1 x 1 x 1mm) Direct cover vitrification (DCV) or conventional vitrification (CV) 15% EG and 15% DMSO or 20% EG and 20% DMSO DCV showed a higher percentage of normal follicles and promoted less apoptotic cells compared with CV
Amorim et al., 2011b. Ovarian fragments (1 mm3) Droplet directly plunged into LN2 38% EG, 0.5 mol/L trehalose, 6% FBS in MEM-GlutaMAX at 10% Maintaining a high percentage of normal follicles than solid-surface vitrification
Salehnia et al., 2012. Ovarian fragments (1–1.5 mm3) Cryovials or cryovials pre-cooled to 0°C put in nitrogen vapour for 30 s and then immersed LN2 40% EG, 30% Ficoll, 1 mol/l SUC and 1.2% BSA or increasing concentrations (2.5%, 5% and 10%) of DMSO, PROH and EG with 10% HSA Maintenance of proportions of normal follicles, DNA fragmentation and ultrastructural characteristics similar to the fresh tissue after 1 day of ovarian cortex culture
Oktem et al., 2011. Ovarian fragments (0.25 cm) Tissue loaded into vials and immersed in LN2 15% PROH , 15% EG, 0.2 mol/L SUC and 10% HSA Maintaining estradiol production similar to the slow- frozen tissue after 3 days of tissue culture
Amorim et al., 2012. Ovarian fragments (1.0 x 1.0 x 1.0 mm) Solid-surface vitrification or open cryo straws 20% DMSO, 20% EG and 25 mg/mL HSA or 10% DMSO, 26% EG, 2.5% PVP, 20 mg/mL HSA and 1 mol/L SUC Percentage of follicles with DNA damage lower than in the slow-frozen tissue after 7 days of xenotransplantation
Kawamura et al., 2013.       Pregnancy and birth
Note: LN2 = liquid nitrogen, DMSO = Dimethylsulfoxide, SUC = Sucrose, BSA = Bovine serum albumin, EG = Ethylene glycol, ROS = Reactive oxygen species, FCS = Fetal calf serum, PVP = Polyvinylpyrrolidone, FBS = Fetal bovine serum, PROH = Propanediol, SSS = Serum substitute supplement, HSA = Human serum album