Posted on 09/17/2005 1:36:28 PM PDT by ellery
Scientists working with sheep have for the first time developed embryos from whole ovaries which were transplanted after being frozen and then thawed. The journal Human Production reported that eggs obtained from two such ovaries produced early sheep embryos.
And researchers at Israel's Institute of Animal Science believe the procedure could one day work with humans.
Scientists have been seeking ways to preserve the fertility of women undergoing aggressive cancer treatment.
We hope that it will not take more than a few years for this to become a practicable option for women
Researcher Yehudit Nathan One option is to harvest, fertilise and then freeze a woman's eggs, but the rate of successful pregnancies following this method is low.
Another option is to freeze and transplant thawed strips of ovarian tissue. There have been reports of two babies born following this technique.
Again, the success rate is limited because the transplanted tissue may become scarred or may not develop the new blood supply it needs to survive.
Researchers have questioned whether it might be better to transplant the whole ovary in such circumstances.
Human whole ovary transplants have already been attempted twice in women, moving the patient's own ovary up in to the arm, but in neither case was the ovary frozen and thawed first.
Freeze-thaw method
Dr Amir Arav and his team at the Institute, in Bet Dagan, Israel, tested whether ovaries from eight sheep, together with their blood vessels, could survive the freezing (cryopreservation) and thawing process.
They chose to study sheep because their ovaries are similar to those of humans.
Five of the eight frozen and thawed ovaries were successfully transplanted and set up a normal blood flow in the sheep.
Two yielded eggs. One produced more than four eggs four months later. From these the researchers were able to make early sheep embryos.
We need to see if it works in humans and we need to make sure it is safe
Dr Allen Pacey Three years on, researchers went back and examined one of the sheep and found the transplanted ovary still appeared to be working and producing eggs.
Dr Arav said: "We have been able to demonstrate long-term intact cryopreservation with restored functioning following thawing and transplantation, in a large animal for around 36 months post-transplantation."
Co-investigator Yehudit Nathan, from Core Dynamics biotech company that funded the project, said: "There is a lot of research still to be done, but we hope that it will not take more than a few years for this to become a practicable option for women."
Dr Allan Pacey, senior lecturer at the University of Sheffield and Secretary of the British Fertility Society, said: "Research work is proceeding on a number of fronts to give women more fertility preservation options - freezing eggs or slices of ovarian cortex - but it is still hard to tell which technique will finally enter mainstream clinical practice.
"This work shows it might be possible to freeze a whole ovary prior to chemotherapy and transplant it after the treatment had finished.
"But we need to see if it works in humans and we need to make sure it is safe.
"If it did work, and was safe, then it could give an option to women facing chemotherapy treatments before they have had a chance to complete their families."
Hillary Clinton has two frozen ovaries.
Y'all can make up your own Oklahoma joke to go with this one.
bwaha!!
I think it's great too!
INDEED!!! :-}
So is she frigid now?
"Whole frozen ovary transplanted"
Cool, maybe even cold.
Coming to a Dairy Queen near you.
Some of the replies are a litltle silly, but for women who have had cancer, this is an interesting development. Many of the men may not be sensitive to this all important facet of a woman's essential being: the ability to reproduce which is so singly bound up in the ovaries. Perhaps contemplating the loss of their equipment might make them sympathetic. Or not. V's wife.
ping.
bump for later, thanks
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.