Effects of L- Carnitine and Fibrin Encapsulation on In Vitro Maturation and Oocyte Developmental Potential Obtained from Transplanted Mouse Ovarian Tissues

Background: Ovarian tissue transplantation is emerging as a powerful approach for preserving fertility for women that are losing ovarian function. In addition, I vitro maturation of oo-cytes retrieved from grafted ovaries may overcome the fertility defects in some cases. The objective of this study was to evalu-ate the potential of using L- Carnitine (LC) as an antioxidant and fibrin encapsulation to improve developmental potential of oocytes obtained from grafted ovarian tissues.Materials and Methods: NMRI mice were divided into six groups: Control (non-graft), Transplant (autograft), Saline group (autograft + saline), LC group (autograft + LC), Fibrin group (autograft + fibrin), LC + Fibrin (autograft + LC + Fi-brin). 6- weeks- old mice were ovariectomized and left ovaries were transplanted into the back muscle tissue. LC (200 mg/Kg)was injected intraperitoneally one day before surgical operation and repeated until one week after grafting. On surgical day, Tis-sues were encapsulated in fibrin and transferred into the back muscle. Three weeks later, ovarian grafts were recovered and oocytes were harvested for in vitro maturation (IVM), in vitro fertilization (IVF) and in vitro development (IVD).Results: Our results indicated that the number of retrieved im-mature oocytes as well as successful IVM, IVF and IVD in transplanted groups was significantly lower than control group (P<0.05). All transplanted groups contained some oocytes that survived following IVM, IVF and IVD and no significant dif-ference was seen between grafted groups.Conclusion: Our study demonstrate that LC and fibrin scaf-fold did not show any negative effect on transplants but could not support further development of oocytes. It seems that usage of scaffold in combination with a growth factor could improve autotransplantation results and more studies are needed in this area.

Keywords:

Ovarian Transplantation , L-Carnitine , Fibrin , IVF