Assessment of the effect of different vitrification solutions on human ovarian tissue after short-term xenotransplantation onto the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane

Chemotherapy can lead to the loss of fertility and premature ovarian failure in young women who suffer from malignant diseases. Freezing ovarian tissue by vitrification allows for the preservation of a large number of follicles prior to treatment, yet no established protocols have been optimized with respect to the vitrification solution. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the early stage of human ovarian tissue xenotransplantated onto the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane after vitrification, and to determine the effect of different vitrification solutions on ovarian tissue quality-as defined by morphology and viability of follicles, neovascularization, cell proliferation, and apoptosis. Each vitrification protocol had a different impact on ovarian tissue at the early transplantation stage; one process using the lowest concentrations of ethylene glycol and dimethylsulfoxide, plus sucrose, demonstrated a moderate advantage compared to the other protocols. We also demonstrated that the chorioallantoic membrane model can be a useful alternative for short-term xenotransplantation studies of angiogenesis into human ovarian cortical tissue.