THE NUMBERS OF OOCYTES IN OVARIAN AUTOGRAFTS AFTER FREEZING AND THAWING

SUMMARY The numbers of oocytes in ovarian autografts frozen at very low temperatures have been compared with those in autografts which, before implantation, had been maintained at room temperature. Ninety mature female rats were used in this study, litter-mates being divided between the two series of experiments. The tissue was placed in 15% glycerol-saline for an hour before implantation. Far fewer oocytes were present in the grafts that had been frozen than in those that had been kept at room temperature, in which the numbers were also very much reduced. The numbers of oocytes in both sets of animals varied independently of the time the grafts had persisted. This result does not lend itself to the conclusion that reformation of oocytes had taken place.