Oocyte, embryo and blastocyst cryopreservation in ART: systematic review and meta-analysis comparing slow-freezing versus vitrification to produce evidence for the development of global guidance.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Rienzi L
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5850862 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Mar
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Oocyte, embryo and blastocyst cryopreservation in ART: systematic review and meta-analysis comparing slow-freezing versus vitrification to produce evidence for the development of global guidance.
Rienzi Laura L Gracia Clarisa C Maggiulli Roberta R LaBarbera Andrew R AR Kaser Daniel J DJ Ubaldi Filippo M FM Vanderpoel Sheryl S Racowsky Catherine C
Human reproduction update 20170301 2
<h4>Background</h4>Successful cryopreservation of oocytes and embryos is essential not only to maximize the safety and efficacy of ovarian stimulation cycles in an IVF treatment, but also to enable fertility preservation. Two cryopreservation methods are routinely used: slow-freezing or vitrification. Slow-freezing allows for freezing to occur at a sufficiently slow rate to permit adequate cellular dehydration while minimizing intracellular ice formation. Vitrification allows the solidification ...[more]
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Project description:PurposeVitrification permits long-term banking of oocytes and embryos. It is a technically challenging procedure requiring direct handling and movement of cells between potentially cytotoxic cryoprotectant solutions. Variation in adherence to timing, and ability to trace cells during the procedure, affects survival post-warming. We hypothesized that minimizing direct handling will simplify the procedure and improve traceability. To address this, we present a novel photopolymerized device that houses the sample during vitrification.MethodsThe fabricated device consisted of two components: the Pod and Garage. Single mouse oocytes or embryos were housed in a Pod, with multiple Pods docked into a Garage. The suitability of the device for cryogenic application was assessed by repeated vitrification and warming cycles. Oocytes or early blastocyst-stage embryos were vitrified either using standard practice or within Pods and a Garage and compared to non-vitrified control groups. Post-warming, we assessed survival rate, oocyte developmental potential (fertilization and subsequent development) and metabolism (autofluorescence).ResultsVitrification within the device occurred within ~ 3 nL of cryoprotectant: this volume being ~ 1000-fold lower than standard vitrification. Compared to standard practice, vitrification and warming within our device showed no differences in viability, developmental competency, or metabolism for oocytes and embryos. The device housed the sample during processing, which improved traceability and minimized handling. Interestingly, vitrification-warming itself, altered oocyte and embryo metabolism.ConclusionThe Pod and Garage system minimized the volume of cryoprotectant at vitrification-by ~ 1000-fold-improved traceability and reduced direct handling of the sample. This is a major step in simplifying the procedure.
| S-EPMC9474789 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Vitrification of endothelial cells (MHECT-5) has not previously been compared with controlled slow freezing methods under standardized conditions. To identify the best cryopreservation technique, we evaluated vitrification and standardized controlled-rate -1°C/minute cell freezing in a -80°C freezer and tested four cryoprotective agents (CPA), namely dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), ethylene glycol (EG), propylene glycol (PG), and glycerol (GLY), and two media, namely Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium Ham's F-12 (DMEM)and K+-modified TiProtec (K+TiP), which is a high-potassium-containing medium. Numbers of viable cells in proliferation were evaluated by the CellTiter 96® AQueous One Solution Cell Proliferation Assay (Promega Corporation, Mannheim, Germany). To detect the exact frozen cell number per cryo vial, DNA content was measured by using Hoechst 33258 dye prior to analysis. Thus, results could be evaluated unconstrained by absolute cell number. Thawed cells were cultured in 25 cm2 cell culture flasks to confluence and examined daily by phase contrast imaging. With regard to cell recovery immediately after thawing, DMSO was the most suitable CPA combined with K+TiP in vitrification (99 ±0.5%) and with DMEM in slow freezing (92 ±1.6%). The most viable cells in proliferation after three days of culture were obtained in cells vitrificated by using GLY with K+TiP (308 ±34%) and PG with DMEM in slow freezing (280 ±27%).
| S-EPMC4758583 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Vitrification is a well-accepted procedure for cryopreservation of gametes and embryos. Less is known, however, about its performance in preserving ovarian tissue, for which slow freezing is the current convention. Increasing interest is being focused on vitrification, but there are as yet no standard protocols for its use with ovarian tissue. In part, this is because of the variety of cell types and complex nature of ovarian tissue. We performed a meta-analysis of 14 studies that compared vitrification with slow freezing for cryopreservation of ovarian tissue. In the pooled analysis, there was no significant difference between the two methods in terms of the proportion of intact primordial follicles, but vitrification was associated with significantly less DNA damage. Secondary endpoints included the number of stromal cells, significantly higher with vitrification, and primordial follicle density, which did not differ between the two methods. The present meta-analysis suggests that vitrification may be more effective than slow freezing, with less primordial follicular DNA strand breaks and better preservation of stromal cells. These advantages should lead to improved ovarian function after transplantation.
| S-EPMC5561141 | biostudies-other
Project description:Nowadays there is a need to improve cryopreservation protocols in both human assisted reproduction and domestic animal field. We wanted to compare the transcriptomic changes induced by two commonly used cryopreservation procedures (slow freezing and vitrification) on rabbit late blastocyst before the onset of implantation. We recovered rabbit morulae at day 3 of development, freezing or vitrified and transferred them into recipient maternal tracts till day 6 of development. In this way, we wanted to analyse if different cryopreservation techniques produce different effects on gene expression that embryos are unable to get over after three days of in vivo development.
2013-09-19 | GSE50979 | GEO
Project description:Nowadays there is a need to improve cryopreservation protocols in both human assisted reproduction and domestic animal field. We wanted to compare the transcriptomic changes induced by two commonly used cryopreservation procedures (slow freezing and vitrification) on rabbit late blastocyst before the onset of implantation. We recovered rabbit morulae at day 3 of development, freezing or vitrified and transferred them into recipient maternal tracts till day 6 of development. In this way, we wanted to analyse if different cryopreservation techniques produce different effects on gene expression that embryos are unable to get over after three days of in vivo development. After artificially insemination morulae were recovered at day 3 of development, frozen or vitrified, and then transferred to recipient does. To assess gene expression differences between frozen and vitrified the recipients were slaughtered three days after the transfer, at day 6.
2013-09-19 | E-GEOD-50979 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:IntroductionPreimplantation genetic diagnosis and/or screening (PGD/PGS) allow the assessment of the genetic health of an embryo before transferring it into the uterus. These techniques require the removal of cellular material (polar bodies, blastomere(s) or trophectoderm cells) in order to perform the proper genetic analysis. We report the implantation and live birth outcome of a vitrified-warmed blastocyst developed after triple biopsy and double vitrification procedures at oocyte, cleavage embryo and blastocyst stage.Case descriptionAn infertile couple, with family history of β-thalassemia, searched for IVF procedure and PGD. First polar bodies biopsy with subsequent vitrification was uninformative due to meiotic crossing-over, so oocytes were inseminated after warming. Two embryos were obtained and blastomere biopsy was performed on day 3 with inconclusive results on their genetic status. Their culture resulted in one expanded blastocyst stage on day 7 that underwent trophectoderm biopsy and vitrification. This embryo showed to be normal. It was then warmed and transferred in an artificial cycle.Discussion and evaluationPreconception genetic analysis by removal and analysis of the first polar body is technically possible, but the genetic information that we can obtain at this stage may be limited and the oocytes to be inseminated is not predictable. Compared to blastomere biopsy, trophectoderm biopsy has more diagnostic efficiency with respect to both chromosomal mosaicism and PCR accuracy, reducing the problems of amplification failure and allele drop out. Moreover, embryos biopsied at the cleavage stage seem to have lower implantation rate than biopsied blastocyst.ConclusionsThis is the first case report of a live birth obtained from a three step biopsy and double vitrification procedures of a blastocyst. This case report seems also to suggest the harmlessness of all these procedures if carefully performed by a skilled biologist in an IVF lab with quality management system. Finally, our study highlight that blastocyst cryopreserved on day 7 have clinically important potential and embryos that not reach blastocyst stage on day 6 should not to be discharged because they may result in an ongoing pregnancy.
| S-EPMC4300308 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Cryopreservation is an essential tool to meet the increasing demand for stem cells in medical applications. To ensure maintenance of cell function upon thawing, the preservation of the actin cytoskeleton is crucial, but so far there is little quantitative data on the influence of cryopreservation on cytoskeletal structures. For this reason, our study aims to quantitatively describe cryopreservation induced alterations to F-actin in adherent human mesenchymal stem cells, as a basic model for biomedical applications. Here we have characterised the actin cytoskeleton on single-cell level by calculating the circular standard deviation of filament orientation, F-actin content, and average filament length. Cryo-induced alterations of these parameters in identical cells pre and post cryopreservation provide the basis of our investigation. Differences between the impact of slow-freezing and vitrification are qualitatively analyzed and highlighted. Our analysis is supported by live cryo imaging of the actin cytoskeleton via two photon microscopy. We found similar actin alterations in slow-frozen and vitrified cells including buckling of actin filaments, reduction of F-actin content and filament shortening. These alterations indicate limited functionality of the respective cells. However, there are substantial differences in the frequency and time dependence of F-actin disruptions among the applied cryopreservation strategies; immediately after thawing, cytoskeletal structures show least disruption after slow freezing at a rate of 1°C/min. As post-thaw recovery progresses, the ratio of cells with actin disruptions increases, particularly in slow frozen cells. After 120 min of recovery the proportion of cells with an intact actin cytoskeleton is higher in vitrified than in slow frozen cells. Freezing at 10°C/min is associated with a high ratio of impaired cells throughout the post-thawing culture.
| S-EPMC6347223 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Cryopreservation of tissues is a tough challenge. Cryopreservation is categorized into slow-freezing and vitrification, and vitrification has recently been recognized as a suitable method for tissue cryopreservation. On the contrary, some researchers have reported that slow-freezing also has potential for tissue cryopreservation. Although conventional cryoprotectants have been studied well, some novel ones may efficiently cryopreserve tissues via slow-freezing. In this study, we used aqueous solutions of an emerging cryoprotectant, an artificial zwitterion supplemented with a conventional cryoprotectant, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), for cell spheroids. The zwitterion/DMSO aqueous solutions produced a better cryoprotective effect on cell spheroids, which are the smallest units of tissues, compared to that of a commercial cryoprotectant. Cryopreservation with the zwitterion/DMSO solutions not only exhibited better cell recovery but also maintained the functions of the spheroids effectively. The optimized composition of the solution was 10 wt% zwitterion, 15 wt% DMSO, and 75 wt% water. The zwitterion/DMSO solution gave a higher number of living cells for the cryopreservation of mouse tumor tissues than a commercial cryoprotectant. The zwitterion/DMSO solution was also able to cryopreserve human tumor tissue, a patient-derived xenograft.
| S-EPMC9807565 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Cryopreservation is known for its marked deleterious effects on embryonic health. Bovine compact morulae were vitrified or slow-frozen, and post-warm morulae were cultured to the expanded blastocyst stage. Blastocysts developed from vitrified and slow-frozen morulae were subjected to microarray analysis and compared with blastocysts developed from unfrozen control morulae for differential gene expression. Morula to blastocyst conversion rate was higher (P < 0.05) in control (72%) and vitrified (77%) than in slow-frozen (34%) morulae. Total 20 genes were upregulated and 44 genes were downregulated in blastocysts developed from vitrified morulae (fold change ≥ ± 2, P < 0.05) in comparison with blastocysts developed from control morulae. In blastocysts developed from slow-frozen morulae, 102 genes were upregulated and 63 genes were downregulated (fold change ≥ ± 1.5, P < 0.05). Blastocysts developed from vitrified morulae exhibited significant changes in gene expression mainly involving embryo implantation (PTGS2, CALB1), lipid peroxidation and reactive oxygen species generation (HSD3B1, AKR1B1, APOA1) and cell differentiation (KRT19, CLDN23). However, blastocysts developed from slow-frozen morulae showed changes in the expression of genes related to cell signaling (SPP1), cell structure and differentiation (DCLK2, JAM2 and VIM), and lipid metabolism (PLA2R1 and SMPD3). In silico comparison between blastocysts developed form vitrified and slow-frozen morulae revealed similar changes in gene expression as between blastocysts developed from vitrified and control morulae. In conclusion, blastocysts developed form vitrified morulae demonstrated better post-warming survival than blastocysts developed from slow-frozen morulae but their gene expression related to lipid metabolism, steroidogenesis, cell differentiation and placentation changed significantly (≥ 2 fold). Slow freezing method killed more morulae than vitrification but those which survived up to blastocyst stage did not express ≥ 2 fold change in their gene expression as compared with blastocysts from control morulae.
| S-EPMC5667772 | biostudies-literature
Project description:This SuperSeries is composed of the SubSeries listed below.
2017-03-31 | GSE95382 | GEO