Review on Ovarian Cryopreservation in Large Animals and Non-Human Primates

The ultimate aim of ovarian cryopreservation research is naturally to increase the effectiveness of this fertility preservation procedure in female cancer victims and much of this research on whole ovary cryopreservation, ovarian cortex cryopreservation and transplantation has been performed in animal models. However, ovarian cryopreservation could also be used in the future in programs with the purpose to rescue endangered species (Santos et al., 2010) and certain specific strains of animals (Dorsch et al., 2004). Due to the ethical barriers in the research on human tissue and the shortage of human premenopausal ovarian tissue for research purposes, there is a need to find animal models that are reasonably analogous to the human. As a general rule, animal models have to be comparable in biochemical, physiological and anatomical characteristics to the human so that the results can be applicable to human conditions (VandeBerg, 2004). Regarding research of ovarian cryopreservation for human fertility preservation, a similar tissue architecture and size of the ovary (Table 1) as well as being a mono-ovulatory species with the primordial follicles located superficially in the cortex would be of advantage (Gerritse et al., 2008). The previous research on ovarian cryopreservation using bovine, porcine, sheep and non-human primate models will be presented in this chapter.