Abstract
Oocyte cryopreservation is playing an increasingly important role in the field of human infertility treatment. The ability to store viable oocytes for later use has given many women the option to delay childbearing in order to pursue other ventures in life, without the concern of losing the opportunity to have a family. Furthermore, oocyte cryopreservation is very valuable for diseased patients who have to undergo treatments that may compromise fertility. Also, infertility patients who produce large numbers of oocytes during a retrieval cycle now have the option of storing some eggs prior to fertilization, thereby reducing the number of embryos that have to be managed. Lastly, oocyte cryopreservation enables egg donation programs that are independent of fresh donations, which makes it possible for numerous recipients to benefit from a single donor.
Traditionally, slow freezing was the only method available for oocyte cryopreservation. However, recent years have shown that ultrarapid cooling of oocytes results in higher survival and developmental rates. Thus, vitrification is today’s preferred method of oocyte cryopreservation and therefore the only technique described.
In this chapter, we present two reliable methods of oocyte vitrification that have been in use for several years and that have been experimentally validated. Since no single vitrification method is clearly superior to the rest, other systems are also briefly described to give the reader options when deciding which methods to utilize in their practice.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Rudick B, Opper N, Paulson R, Bendikson K, Chung K (2010) The status of oocyte cryopreservation in the United States. Fertil Steril 94:2642–2646
Saragusty J, Arav A (2011) Current progress in oocyte and embryo cryopreservation by slow freezing and vitrification. Reproduction 141:1–19
Vajta G, Holm P, Kuwayama M, Booth PJ, Jacobsen H, Greve T, Callesen H (1998) Open pulled straw (OPS) vitrification: a new way to reduce cryoinjuries of bovine ova and embryos. Mol Reprod Dev 51:53–58
Kuleshova L, Gianaroli L, Magli C, Ferraretti A, Trounson A (1999) Birth following vitrification of a small number of human oocytes: case report. Hum Reprod 14:3077–3079
Vieira AD, Mezzalira A, Barbieri DP, Lehmkuhl RC, Rubin MI, Vajta G (2002) Calves born after open pulled straw vitrification of immature bovine oocytes. Cryobiology 45:91–94
Bonetti A, Cervi M, Tomei F, Marchini M, Ortolani F, Manno M (2011) Ultrastructural evaluation of human metaphase II oocytes after vitrification: closed versus open devices. Fertil Steril 95:928–935
Oakes MB, Gomes CM, Fioravanti J, Serafini P, Motta EL, Smith GD (2008) A case of oocyte and embryo vitrification resulting in clinical pregnancy. Fertil Steril 90(2013):e5–e8
Kuwayama M (2007) Highly efficient vitrification for cryopreservation of human oocytes and embryos: the Cryotop method. Theriogenology 67:73–80
Kuwayama M, Vajta G, Kato O, Leibo SP (2005) Highly efficient vitrification method for cryopreservation of human oocytes. Reprod Biomed Online 11:300–308
Trokoudes KM, Pavlides C, Zhang X (2011) Comparison outcome of fresh and vitrified donor oocytes in an egg-sharing donation program. Fertil Steril 95:1996–2000
Garcia JI, Noriega-Portella L, Noriega-Hoces L (2011) Efficacy of oocyte vitrification combined with blastocyst stage transfer in an egg donation program. Hum Reprod 26:782–790
Selvaraj P, Selvaraj K, Srinivasan K (2010) First successful birth of twins in India following the transfer of vitrified oocytes. J Hum Reprod Sci 3:44–48
Keskintepe L, Agca Y, Sher G, Keskintepe M, Maassarani G (2009) High survival rate of metaphase II human oocytes after first polar body biopsy and vitrification: determining the effect of previtrification conditions. Fertil Steril 92:1706–1715
Sher G, Keskintepe L, Mukaida T, Keskintepe M, Ginsburg M, Agca Y, Maassarani G, Bayrak A (2008) Selective vitrification of euploid oocytes markedly improves survival, fertilization and pregnancy-generating potential. Reprod Biomed Online 17:524–529
Nottola SA, Coticchio G, Sciajno R, Gambardella A, Maione M, Scaravelli G, Bianchi S, Macchiarelli G, Borini A (2009) Ultrastructural markers of quality in human mature oocytes vitrified using cryoleaf and cryoloop. Reprod Biomed Online 19(Suppl 3):17–27
Liebermann J, Tucker MJ (2002) Effect of carrier system on the yield of human oocytes and embryos as assessed by survival and developmental potential after vitrification. Reproduction 124:483–489
Chian RC, Huang JY, Gilbert L, Son WY, Holzer H, Cui SJ, Buckett WM, Tulandi T, Tan SL (2009) Obstetric outcomes following vitrification of in vitro and in vivo matured oocytes. Fertil Steril 91:2391–2398
Chian RC, Gilbert L, Huang JY, Demirtas E, Holzer H, Benjamin A, Buckett WM, Tulandi T, Tan SL (2009) Live birth after vitrification of in vitro matured human oocytes. Fertil Steril 91:372–376
Cao Y, Xing Q, Zhang ZG, Wei ZL, Zhou P, Cong L (2009) Cryopreservation of immature and in-vitro matured human oocytes by vitrification. Reprod Biomed Online 19:369–373
Larman MG, Gardner DK (2011) Vitrification of mouse embryos with super-cooled air. Fertil Steril 95:1462–1466
Di Pietro C, Vento M, Guglielmino MR, Borzi P, Santonocito M, Ragusa M, Barbagallo D, Duro LR, Majorana A, De Palma A, Garofalo MR, Minutolo E, Scollo P, Purrello M (2010) Molecular profiling of human oocytes after vitrification strongly suggests that they are biologically comparable with freshly isolated gametes. Fertil Steril 94:2804–2807
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their gratitude to the following individuals who shared valuable information regarding the various devices and protocols: Barry Behr, Ri-Cheng Chian, Vladimir Isachenko, Mitch Schiewe, Pierre Vanderzwalmen, and Gabor Vajta.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Nagy, Z.P., Nel-Themaat, L., Chang, CC., Shapiro, D.B., Berna, D.P. (2014). Cryopreservation of Eggs. In: Rosenwaks, Z., Wassarman, P. (eds) Human Fertility. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1154. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0659-8_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0659-8_20
Published:
Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-0658-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-0659-8
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols