ESHRE 2018: Early-Stage Research on Artificial Ovary for Fertility Preservation
Posted: Wednesday, July 25, 2018
Research on the development of an artificial ovary takes another step forward, according to the findings recently presented at the 2018 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) in Barcelona (Abstract O-083). Susanne Pors, PhD, DVM, of Rigshospitalet’s Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Copenhagen, and colleagues reported that they have isolated and grown human follicles to the point of biofunctionality on a bioengineered ovarian scaffold made of decellularized ovarian tissue. These early-stage follicles were isolated from patients who opted to have ovarian tissue frozen for fertility preservation before receiving treatment likely to compromise ovarian function.
“This is the first time that isolated human follicles have survived in a decellularized human scaffold,” stated Dr. Pors in a press release. “As a proof-of-concept, it could offer a new strategy in fertility preservation without risk of malignant cell reoccurrence.”
Over the past 20 years, the Danish group has preserved ovarian tissue from 1,100 patients, and 115 thawed transplantations have been performed in 90 women. According to Dr. Pors, their protocol of eliminating cells from ovarian tissue and transferring viable early-stage follicles would remove the possibility of reintroducing potential malignancies in the original tissue.
During a 3-day chemical process, the inhabiting cells of the tissue were eliminated and then decellularization was tested by DNA and collagen quantification. An extracellular matrix scaffold of the original tissue remained after removal of the inhabiting cells. The isolated early-stage follicles were reseeded on this bioengineered scaffold. Transplantation experiments (on mice) showed that the decellularized matrix was able to support survival and growth of early-stage follicles.
