Effect of Blood Transfusion on the Survival Rate of Cryopreserved Mouse Ovaries Transplanted into Rat Uterine Cavity

Judgement of viability is essential for determining the effectiveness of cryopreservation method for ovaries. Freeze-thawed ovaries have been transplanted into the uteri of pseudopregnant rats, but the survival rate of after transplantation has been low. Since it has been reported that the survival rate of transplanted kidneys was improved when blood transfusion was performed before transplantation, the present study was designed to determine the effect of blood transfusion on the survival rate of transplanted mouse ovaries. Before transplantation of the ovaries in the uteri of rats, the recipient rats were given 1∼5 intraperitoneal blood transfusions. The ovaries were frozen using the vitrification method. After dehydrated the ovaries, they were kept in liquid nitogen. Immediatly after thawed the ovaries, they were transplanted into uteri of pseudopregnant rats that had received blood transfusion, and the survival rate of the ovaries was investigated. The viability of the transplanted ovarian follicles was examined using a morphological technique. It was found that the number of healthy follicles increased as the number of blood transfusions was increased, indicating that pre-transplantation blood transfusion into the recipient is an effective method for increasing the survival rate of transplanted ovaries.