Isolation and characterization of primordial follicles from fresh and cryopreserved human ovarian tissue

Light microscopical and ultrastructural characterization of goat preantral follicles

“…In general, the ultrastructure of goat preantral follicles was similar to that of other mammalian species (cattle - Van Wezel and Rodgers, 1996, Fair et al, 1997bpig -Greenwald and Moor, 1989;feline -Jewgenow and Stolte, 1996;humanHertig andAdams, 1967 andOktay et al, 1997), but some differences were observed, which may indicate either species specific differences or different phases of follicular development.…”

Efficacy of ovarian tissue cryopreservation in a major European center

“…Although various large centers for cryopreservation of ovarian tissue exist, [12,13,15,17,18,21,24] to the best of our knowledge, cohort studies in which the impact of currently used cryopreservation/ thawing protocols on both follicle and stromal cell survival in young cancer patients is measured have not been published before. Earlier studies considering the impact of slow freezing techniques other than evaluated here, generally focused on follicle viability only [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] and often described patient populations without an indication for fertility preservation (e.g. patients applying for a sterilization, cystectomy, or caesarean section) [8, 27-29, 32, 34, 35, 38].…”

“…Although there are studies that quantify the impact of slow-freezing on human ovarian tissue viability, these studies do not per definition focus on the protocols that are currently being used by the major centers. [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] Moreover, most of these studies did not take the viability of the stromal cell compartment into account. [27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] This compartment, however, is essential for post-autotransplantation neovascularization, follicle survival, and life span of the ovarian graft [39] and is considered to be more sensitive to ischemic and cryoinjury than primordial follicles [8,40].…”

Human oocyte and ovarian tissue cryopreservation and its application

“…Therefore, cryopreservation of ovarian cortex tissue which is rich in primordial and primary follicles has been suggested as an alternative to ovulation induction and oocyte cryopreservation for preserving fertility [87,88]. Viable follicles survive after freezing-thawing of human ovaries [89] and ovarian tissue [90][91][92]. This has aroused interest in this procedure as a potential means of preserving the fecundity of patients at risk of premature ovarian failure [9,87,93].…”