Frozen Whole Ovary Transplant a Success

Doctors have long used frozen pieces of ovary tissue to reconstruct ovaries damaged by chemotherapy or other ovarian failure, allowing affected women to conceive and have children.

But now, Israeli scientists say they have successfully transplanted whole frozen and thawed ovaries in sheep, produced eggs from these ovaries, and then triggered them in the laboratory into early embryonic development.

Moreover, tests showed that the transplanted ovaries in two of the five sheep were still functioning normally three years later.

The report appears in the September issue of Human Reproduction.

According to lead author Amir Arav, a senior scientist at the Institute of Animal Science, Agriculture Research Organization, these results show that it is possible to remove, freeze, thaw and replace ovaries, obtain eggs and maintain normal ovarian function.

"There is a lot of research still to be done, but we hope that it will not take more than a few years for this to become a practicable option for women, such as young cancer patients, who would otherwise be left infertile after their treatment," Yehudit Nathan, program manager at biotech company Core Dynamics, said in a prepared statement. The company funded the research.

The method is new because it used whole ovaries, along with their blood vessels, and showed that they were able to survive the freezing and thawing process. The key to the process is being able to control the formation of ice crystals during the freezing process. This reduces the damage caused to cells by usual freezing methods, according to the researchers.

Arav's team used sheep because their ovaries are similar to those of humans.

The approach offers new hope for using this method in women facing premature ovarian failure. In addition, freezing organs may be useful for other types of lifesaving human organ transplants, which are currently done using only fresh organs, the researchers noted.

"This approach could revolutionize the field of cryopreservation for diverse human applications, such as organ transplants, as well as helping women who face the loss of their fertility," Arav said in a statement.

Despite the success, fertility experts have reservations about how this new method might be used in women.

"This is an extremely encouraging report," said Dr. Kutluk Oktay, an associate professor of reproductive medicine at Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York City. "If we can freeze a human ovary intact with its blood supply, a larger reserve of eggs can be preserved."

However, a human ovary is at least three to four times larger than a sheep ovary, and thus the outcome might be different in humans, Oktay said. "If the authors show that the sheep can actually have live births after this procedure, they must try this with human tissue to show its feasibility in patients," he said.

Another expert believes that, rather than freezing ovaries, freezing eggs is still a better alternative.

"The amount of surgical intervention required to use this technique is so much greater than what you would need to do with egg-freezing," said Dr. Jaime A. Grifo, the director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology at New York University Medical Center and a professor at NYU School of Medicine.

"Basically, patients would have to undergo two procedures for this to work," he said. Grifo said that this technique could be used for women who may have ovarian failure. "[But] the problem there is going to be that, in the patient who is a candidate for this, you will be freezing an ovary that is likely to develop ovarian failure anyway," Grifo said. "So are you really accomplishing anything?"

Another expert said other researchers have been using similar methods with similar results.

Researchers at Cornell have been doing this for some time, said Dr. Hugh Taylor, an assistant professor of reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Yale University School of Medicine. "It's an interesting technical feat, but whether it's going to be better than the alternative method of freezing pieces of ovarian tissue is not answered by this study," he said.

More information

The American Society of Reproductive Medicine can tell you more about infertility.

Katrina Floodwaters Still Pose Health Risks

As the death toll from Hurricane Katrina surged past 650 on Tuesday, federal officials said floodwaters in the devastated Gulf Coast region remain contaminated with E. coli and other bacteria, high levels of lead, oil products and other dangerous chemicals.

Drinking water must be boiled. And land is also contaminated with debris that runs the gamut from toxic waste to tree limbs, EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson said at a news conference.

"We continue to sample the flood water," Johnson said. "We are seeing a range of chemicals from 24D barium, chromium, copper, sodium and iron."

"This is one of the biggest environmental challenges in our agency's history. Since we haven't seen anything of this scale before, it's hard to make specific predictions," said Eryn Witcher, an EPA spokeswoman. The agency's top priority is a quick cleanup that protects people's health, she told the Associated Press.

The death toll continues to climb in the flood-ravaged Gulf Coast, with Louisiana's count rising to 423 after the discovery of the bodies of 34 elderly patients -- presumed drowned -- at a Chalmette nursing home.

Proprietors Salvador and Mable Mangano now face homicide charges for the deaths, with authorities claiming they did not heed warnings to evacuate their patients as Katrina came ashore Aug. 29. The two reportedly also turned down an offer of evacuation help from St. Bernard Parish officials.

Johnson noted that drinking water systems throughout the region are still not working properly. "In some cases, they are not working because there is no electricity," he said. "In other cases, such as New Orleans, they are operating, but there are 'boil-water advisories' because the water is unsafe."

Young children are most susceptible to illness because their immune systems are still developing. But, the EPA said the amount of chemicals found in the water would pose a risk to children only if a child were to drink a liter of floodwater a day, the AP said.

Nonetheless, officials from the EPA and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention strongly urged people not to wade in or drink standing water. If contact can't be avoided, soap and water to clean exposed areas should be used, the news service said.

Waste-treatment facilities remain crippled, Johnson said, with many systems in Louisiana and Mississippi not operating, he said.

"Drinking water systems need attention," Johnson said. "Waste-water systems need attention. We are on the scene trying to help state and local communities bring them back up."

The EPA and state authorities are also testing the water in the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain. To prevent further contamination from oil and gasoline and other pollutants, the EPA has placed booms in these and other waterways where floodwater is draining.

In terms of the land, Johnson said there is an enormous amount of debris. "The kind of debris we are seeing ranges from trees to hazardous materials," he said. "We have recovered over 5,000 orphan containers that range from gas cylinders to medical waste disposal drums."

Another problem is the sediment left behind by flooding, he said.

"We have begun to sample the sediment from New Orleans," Johnson said. "We don't have any results yet. Our labs have had difficulty doing the analysis because the sediment samples are so laden with petroleum products -- it is hard to get those products out of the sediment so that you can look for other chemicals or bacteria."

Johnson also noted that hazardous waste and superfund sites -- uncontrolled or abandoned places where hazardous waste is located -- were disrupted by the hurricane. "We are now looking at what steps to take to assure the public that these sites have not been compromised. One superfund site remains underwater."

The EPA has also received numerous reports of chemical odors and oil spills. "There have been five oil spills in New Orleans to date," Johnson said.

So far, air sampling has not detected any serious chemical or radioactive releases, he said, adding that the EPA will continue to work with state and local agencies to monitor environmental conditions.

More information

The EPA can tell you more about environmental testing in the hurricane affected areas.

Couch Potatoes Threatened by 'Visceral' Fat

September 14, 2005 08:41:37 PM PST

Experts warn that visceral fat shows strong links to insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease and other metabolic problems.

"We believe that these results shine a clear spotlight on the high costs Americans are paying for their continued inactivity. I don't believe that people in general have gotten lazier -- it's more that they are working too hard or are at their desks working on computers with fewer opportunities for exercise. The situation is out of balance," lead researcher Cris Slentz, of Duke University Medical Center, said in a prepared statement.

The study of 175 sedentary, overweight men and women also found that a moderate exercise program can help prevent the accumulation of visceral fat.

"In our study, the control group that did not exercise saw a sizable and significant 8.6 percent increase in visceral fat in only six months," Slentz said.

"We also found that a modest exercise program equivalent to a brisk 30-minute walk six times a week can prevent accumulation of visceral fat, while even more exercise can actually reverse the amount of visceral fat," Slentz said.

Study participants exercising at the highest level -- the equivalent of 17 miles of jogging per week -- had a 6.9 decrease in visceral fat. The actual exercising was done on treadmills, elliptical trainers or cycle ergometers.

The findings appear in the October issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology.

More information

The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about exercise.