Transplantation of cryopreserved mouse, Chinese hamster, rabbit, Japanese monkey and rat ovaries into rat recipients

Partial ovaries from mice, hamsters, rabbits, Japanese monkeys and rats hav e survived deep-freezing and returned to a normal morphological state after being thawed and transplanted into the rat uterine cavity. This report des cribes the ice-free cryopreservation of mouse and other ovaries at -196 deg rees C by vitrification. The vitrification solution was based on the soluti ons reported by Rall & Fahy [16]. After ovaries had been exposed to the vit rification solution, they were frozen, with their suspending medium, by liq uid nitrogen. After freezing, the ovaries were thawed in 37 degrees C water . The viability of the previously frozen ovarian tissue was tested by trans planting it into the uterine cavity of pseudopregnant rats. Seven days afte r transplantation, the ovaries were removed with the rat uterus, and staine d with haematoxylin and eosin for histological examination. Survival of the frozen-thawed the ovaries in the rat uterine cavity demonstrates that thes e ovaries can tolerate exposure to osmotic dehydration and vitrification in a concentrated solution of cryoprotectant and are then immunologically acc eptable to the uterine cavity.