Aspects of Human Oocyte In-Vitro Maturation

Abstract

In the past 50 years, significant advances have been made in understanding the endocrine and intracellular regulation of oocyte maturation.

The in vitro maturation protocol is relatively simple, with a shorter period of treatment. In addition, the side effects are eliminated and costs are reduced compared with conventional in vitro fertilization. In future, immature oocyte retrieval combined with in vitro maturation could possibly replace standard stimulated in vitro fertilization in selected patients.

The aspects of in vitro maturation of human oocytes for fertilization and developmental competence include nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation. The nuclear maturation includes germinal vesicle breakdown, meiotic maturation and chromosome formation.

The following methods are used for oocytes collection: postmortem or post surgical slicing of the ovary, aspiration of the follicles by laparotomy, transvaginal ultrasound-guided follicular aspiration and cryopreserved oocytes.

There are currently four principal scenanos for in vitro maturation technology: in vitro fertilization in women with polycystic ovary, in vitro fertilization in normal women, salvage of immature oocytes for in vitro fertilization and finally in vitro maturation of immature cryopreserved oocytes.

The culture medium for human oocyte in vitro maturation is usually supplemented with serum. The most commonly used protein sources in human oocyte in vitro maturation are fetal cord serum, fetal bovine serum, human serum