Reproduction Abstracts

Introduction: In vitro cultures are a widely used tool to study ovary development and assess reproductive toxicology of chemicals. However, establishing a culture system whereby mouse ovaries can be cultured from a pre-meiotic stage to a mature oocyte has proved challenging. We have developed a novel culture system that spans meiotic entry to meiotic arrest, germ cell nest break-down, follicle formation, and initiation of follicle growth.Methods...

Introduction: This work adapts a novel ovary culture technique, devised by De Felici’s group, for assessing the ovotoxicity of two chemotherapeutic drugs, cisplatin and doxorubicin. Previous work from our laboratory used cultures of intact neonatal ovaries to determine the effects of the two drugs, showing that both cisplatin and doxorubicin are moderately ovotoxic.Methods: Here, ovaries collected from newborn WT mice were cultured as by De Felici. ...

Introduction: The use of the chemotherapeutic agent etoposide in pregnancy is considered to be relatively safe during the second and third trimesters. However, the drug does have detrimental effects on oocytes undergoing meiosis II. Similar effects on oocytes in meiosis I may have a clinical impact on the fertility of women exposed to the drug in utero, during critical stages of ovarian development. This study aims to examine the effects of etoposide exposure during e...

The past few decades have seen marked improvements in life expectancy following childhood cancer due, in part, to advances in chemotherapy. While these drugs are effective in treating malignant disease, one of the main adverse outcomes can be infertility. This is of particular concern for prepubertal boys, for whom there are not yet any established methods of fertility preservation. The objective of this study was to gain a better understanding of the effects of the widely-use...

Introduction: The chemotherapy agent etoposide is a topoisomerase II (topo II) inhibitor, and is considered safe to administer during pregnancy. However, assessment of its effects on the developing ovary, when germ cells are undergoing initiation of meiosis and forming follicles, has been limited. We have investigated this using ovarian tissue culture.Methods: E13.5 mouse ovaries were cultured for 12 days on an agar block, with etoposide added for the fi...

Introduction: The effect of chemotherapy treatment on premenopausal women’s fertility has long been of concern. Here, we investigate the direct actions of chemotherapy drugs on the human ovary, examining effects of two commonly used drugs, cisplatin and doxorubicin.Method: Ovarian cortical tissue samples were collected from patients aged 27–34 who were undergoing elective caesarean section, with informed consent and Ethical Committee approval. ...