Abstract:
Immature human follicular oocytes were collected from unstimulated ovaries, matured and fertilizedin vitro and then transferred to patients with no ovarian dysfunction such as premature ovarian failure.From 11 1 consenting donors, 422 immature oocytes were collected from 97 ovaries between January1990 and October 1991. The number of oocytes collected from ovaries and their development wererecorded so that comparisons could be made among donors of different ages and ovarian condition,such as menstrual cycle, cyclic and non-cyclic ovaries. The rate of fertilization in vitro showed a peakin the 31-40-year age group; however, there was no statistical difference in the rate of oocyte maturationand cleavage among the donors in the different age groups. Immature oocytes of the luted phase hada significantly higher maturation rate than those of the follicular phase. There was no significantdifference in the number of recovered oocytes, or in the development of immature follicular oocytes,between cyclic and non-cyclic ovaries. Mature follicular fluid and peritoneal fluid had a significanteffect on the development of immature follicular oocytes. Also, it was found that fertilized eggscleaved more frequently in the medium containing hypoxanthine compared with the medium withouthypoxanthine. Finally, from 21 transfer cycles, viable embryos were derived from immature follicularoocytes, resulting in two pregnancies, both leading to the birth of normal babies. These findingssuggest that culture in vitro of immature follicular oocytes, from unstimulated ovaries, to a suitablecondition, could be used optimally for clinical applications such as human ovum donationprogrammes.