Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on October 6, 2005
Human Reproduction 2006 21(2):484-491; doi:10.1093/humrep/dei331
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Cryopreservation of intact testicular tissue from boys with cryptorchidism
1 Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, Section 5712, 2 Department of Paediatric Surgery, Section 4072, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Rigshospitalet, DK-2100 Copenhagen and 3 Department of Medical Anatomy, University of Copenhagen, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
4 To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: yding{at}rh.dk
BACKGROUND: Boys with cryptorchidism often face fertility problems in adult life despite having orchiopexy performed at a very young age. During this operation, a biopsy of the testis is normally taken in order to evaluate their infertility potential and the presence of malignant cells. This study evaluated the morphology and functional capacity of cryopreserved testes biopsies and their possible use in fertility preservation. METHODS: Biopsies from 11 testes (eight boys) were obtained. Each biopsy was subdivided into six pieces and two pieces were frozen in each of two different cryoprotectants. One fresh and two cryopreserved pieces were cultured for 2 weeks. All pieces were prepared for histology. Used culture media were analysed for testosterone and inhibin B concentrations. RESULTS: The morphology of the fresh and frozen–thawed samples was similar, with well-preserved seminiferous tubules and interstitial cells. A similar picture appeared after 2 weeks of culture, but a few of the cultured biopsies contained small necrotic areas. The presence of spermatogonia was verified by c-kit-positive immunostaining. Production of testosterone and inhibin B (ng/mm3 testis tissue) in the frozen–thawed pieces was on average similar to that of the fresh samples. CONCLUSIONS: Intact testicular tissue from young boys with non-descended testes tolerates cryopreservation with surviving spermatogonia and without significant loss of the ability to produce testis-specific hormones in vitro. It may be an option to freeze part of the testis biopsy, which is routinely removed during the operation for cryptorchidism, for fertility preservation in adult life.
Key words: c-kit/cryopreservation/cryptorchidism/human testes tissue/spermatogonia
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