Doctors have developed a new technique that can be a game changer as it successfully helped infertile women, due to early menopause, get pregnant and deliver a baby. The technique "reawakened" their ovaries.
The new technique developed by doctors from the U.S. and Japan includes removal of the ovaries and reactivating it in the laboratory before re-implanting fragments of ovarian tissue.
The joint effort of doctors from the Stanford University in the U.S. and St. Marianna University School of Medicine in Japan, recruited 27 women who became infertile at 30 because of "primary ovarian sufficiency" – a condition that affects one in a hundred women.
Though women usually have a fixed number of eggs at birth, some tend to use them up quickly. However, some are born with fewer eggs.
Eggs in the ovaries are not completely developed. They remain as follicles and some mature each month. During the process of the technique, the researchers try to stimulate the last few remaining follicles that may be present.
The ovaries are removed from the inside and a couple of techniques are combined and used to trigger the follicles. They cut the ovaries into fragments then they apply a chemical to "restart" the egg development. The fragments were then placed back at the top of the fallopian tubes and the women will then start hormonal therapy.
After the treatment, follicles in eight out of 27 women started to develop. The eggs were taken for normal In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and as of the moment, one pair has had a baby and another one is pregnant.
"It has to be improved to figure out the best way to do it, but we estimate it could help 25 to 30 percent of the women. We think it could help in two other forms of infertility. Cancer survivors after chemotherapy or radiotherapy; if there's any follicles left there's a chance this will help. And also women aged 40 to 45 with an irregular menstrual cycle," said Aaron Hsueh, a professor from Stanford University to BBC.
Nick Macklon, a professor from the University of Southampton, added, "Finding a new way to get new eggs by waking up sleeping follicles is very promising. It's potentially a game-changer. It's a very important and very exciting piece of science, but it is not ready for the clinic. It still needs good randomized control trial data."
He also mentioned that doing such technique outside of a research study would be impracticable; however, a better knowledge and understanding of the egg development could lead to discovery of new medications.
This new technique was published in Sept. 30 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
