Effect of Microbial Contamination Induced During the Preservation of Ova Via Vitrification (Open System)

Najat Marraiki, Eman Al-Shawa and Ahmad Al-Himaidi

Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/bbra/1093

ABSTRACT: The cryopreservation of sperm, embryos and, oocytes plays an important and increasing role in assisted reproduction, due to improvements of old, and introduction of new technologies. In parallel, concerns are increasing about the technical and biological safety of this procedures.Cryopreservation of embryos is an established tool in human assisted reproductive technologies, and the clinical application of oocyte and ovarian tissue cryopreservation is increasing worldwide. Vitrification is a cryopreservation technique that leads to a glass-like solidification, with rapid cooling of cells or tissues. Today vitrification is seen as the future of cryopreservation of human oocytes and embryos, owing to improved survival rates and clinical outcomes.The aim of this study is to investigate the hypothetical risk of disease transmission through LN2 during the vitrification procedure if the cells are directly plunged into accidentally contaminated LN2. The need to guarantee the absolute sterility of LN2 for vitrification purposes is considered a critical problem.In this study we used different kind of microbes to infect group of mice oocyte stored in the same LN2 tank. The results of this study demonstrate absence of cross infection between samples during the cryopreservation and vitrification procedures. Although the microbes have grown in different kind of media such as embryo culture media or nutrient agar media to provide ideal environment for bacterial growing and more even the vitrification seems cause degeneration microbes. However, Safe and successful cryopreservation of oocytes requires screening of patients for infectious diseases, and application of the appropriate sanitary and cryoprocedures to ensure high post-thaw survival of gametes and to minimize the risk of disease transmission to recipients.

KEYWORDS: Vitrification; Cryopreservation of sperm; Embryos; Microbial contamination; LN2 tank

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