Gonadotropins augment maturation and fertilization of human immature oocytes cultured in vitro

Spontaneous in vitro maturation and artificial activation of human germinal vesicle oocytes recovered from stimulated cycles

“…In the present work, we demostrate the diagnostic value of parthenogenetic activation and show that human in vitromatured GV oocytes from stimulated ovaries respond to artificial stimuli, though at a lower rate than in vivomatured oocytes, which is contrary to that stated in earlier reports (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(39)(40)(41)(42). The variations observed in activation rate and response with respect to the maturation process may reflect the deterioration in oocyte quality that accompanies IVM, probably due to abnormalities arising during cytoplasmic maturation, unsuitable IVM conditions and/or intrinsic or induced defects in developmental ability and/or aging.…”

“…66.4% of our GV matured to MII within the first 26.6±2.0 h of culture, while only 8.4% continued to mature after this period (total IVM 42.7± 2.4 h). The global nuclear maturation rate of our oocytes (almost 70%) was comparable to that reported previously for denuded GV recovered from stimulated cycles and matured under different culture conditions (80%: [3][4][5][6][7][39][40][41][42], which suggests that nuclear maturation is a predetermined time-dependant phenomenon that occurs spontaneously in the majority of GV recovered from stimulated ovaries.…”

“…Experience has shown that GV released from antral follicles are capable of maturing to MII after a minimum of 22 h of culture (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(39)(40)(41)(42). 66.4% of our GV matured to MII within the first 26.6±2.0 h of culture, while only 8.4% continued to mature after this period (total IVM 42.7± 2.4 h).…”

Spindle and Chromosome Abnormality of Aged, Matured Oocytes in Human

“…One of the reasons for the high rates of spindle abnormalities in this study was thought to be the use of cumulus cell-free oocytes [15]. Another reason suggested was that FSH [29] and LH [30] were not added to the culture media. There are some reports that matured PI and MI oocytes produced chromosomally normal M II oocytes [31].…”

The effect of human cumulus cells on the maturation and developmental potential of immature oocytes in ICSI cycles

“…Many studies have been conducted and are currently ongoing to develop an optimal maturation medium for IVM. For the in vitro maturation of human oocytes, the media has been supplemented with HMG [25], pregnant mare serum gonadotropin [3], HCG [3,21], FSH and LH [15,21], and E2 [3,21]. However, the receptors for many of these molecules are on the CCs [5,20], which implies that the supplements may not play a full role for cumulus-free oocytes.…”