• Granulosa cell conditioned medium enhances the in vitro maturation of vitrified- warmed mouse oocytes
  • Narges Hatamian,1 Elnaz Zand,2 Mahmoud Talkhabi,3 Rouallah Fathi,4,*
    1. Department of Animal Sciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
    2. Department of Embryology, Reproductive Biomedicine Research Center, Royan Institute for Reproductive Biomedicine, ACECR, Tehran, Iran.
    4. Department of Embryology, Reproductive Biomedicine Research Center, Royan Institute for Reproductive Biomedicine, ACECR, Tehran, Iran


  • Introduction: Today, male and female infertility has increased significantly in all countries. it is known that a number of factors such as smoking tobacco or marijuana, drinking alcohol excessively, being overweight, exposure to environmental toxins and having past or present infections are linked to both male and female infertility. In spite of these findings, there is an increasing occurrence of infertility in the world. To this end, many methods and protocols have been studied or developed to overcome the problems related to infertility, as well as to increase the efficiency of Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), cryopreserved embryos and intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). in vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes is a critical step in assisted reproductive technologies carried out in species, such as cattle and swine, for generating oocytes capable of being fertilized in vitro. IVM is also important and promising for human, especially for treatment of couples who wish to have babies at an older age, as well as for women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or PCO- like ovaries. Today, this strategy is clinically limited by its poor efficiency in terms of fertilization and embryo viability compared to in vitro fertilization and subsequent embryo development. Thus, the optimization of IVM strategy is an interesting field for many researchers and scientists in the world. In addition, Oocyte cryopreservation is an important part of fertility preservation. IVM of cryopreserved immature oocytes seems to be an appropriate approach for improving ARTs efficacy. This study aimed to mature and improve the quality of vitrified-warmed mouse oocytes using granulosa cell conditioned medium (GCCM).
  • Methods: The oocytes were collected from NMRI mice at germinal vesicle stage. Then the collected oocytes (as immature oocytes) were vitrified using equilibration and verification solutions. The vitrified oocytes were warmed after one day and transferred to the maturation medium (50%GCCM + 50% IVM medium). After 24 hours, the rate of MII phase oocytes (as mature oocytes) was analyzed. Moreover, the mitochondria potential activity and the viability of metaphase II (MII) oocytes were assessed using JC-1 and trypan blue staining, respectively.
  • Results: The results showed that GCCM enhances the maturation rate of the vitrified-warmed GV mouse oocytes
  • Conclusion: In conclusion the results of the present study suggest that GCCM might enhance the efficiency of IVM of human oocytes and can be used as method in infertility clinics.
  • Keywords: IVM, GCCM, Cryopreservation, Conditioned medium