Effect of site of transplantation on follicular development of human ovarian tissue transplanted into intact or castrated immunodeficient mice

Abstract

Objective To study the response of human ovarian xenografts to transplantation into different sites and in different host conditions. Design Controlled experiment. Setting Academic research laboratory. Patient(s) Donated ovarian tissue from two young women. Intervention(s) Human ovarian cortical pieces were transplanted either under the kidney capsule or to the subcutaneous space of intact or castrated male nonobese diabetic (NOD) severe combined immune-deficient (SCID) mice. Grafts were recovered after euthanasia. Main outcome measure(s) Microscopic examination of histologic sections to determine proportions of growing follicles, and serum estradiol concentration measurements. Result(s) Six months after transplantation, ovarian grafts transplanted under the kidney capsule of intact male mice had significantly higher proportions of growing follicles compared with those recovered from the castrated/kidney capsule and intact/subcutaneous groups. However, no difference was detected between the intact/kidney capsule and the castrated/subcutaneous groups. Mean estradiol concentrations in serum were nonsignificantly increased in mice with ovarian grafts compared with those in mice without a graft. Conclusion(s) Follicular development in xenotransplanted human ovarian tissue is influenced by the site of transplantation and the condition of the host.