Ovary and uterus transplantation

Ovarian and uterine transplantation are procedures gaining more attention again because of potential applications in respectively fertility preservation for cancer and other patients and, more tentatively, women with uterine agenesis or hysterectomy. Cryopreservation of tissue slices, and possibly whole organs, is providing opportunities for banking ovaries for indefinite periods before transplanting them back to restore fertility. The natural plasticity of this organ facilitates grafting to different sites where they can be revascularized and rapidly restore the normal physiology of secretion and ovulation. Ischemic damage is a chief limitation because many follicles are lost, at least in avascular grafts, and functional longevity is reduced. Nevertheless, grafts of young ovarian tissue, even after cryopreservation, can be highly fertile in laboratory rodents and, in humans, autografts have functioned for up to 3 years before needing replacement. Transplantation by vascular anastomosis provides potentially longer function but it is technically much more demanding and riskier for the recipient. It is the only practicable method with the uterus, and has enabled successful pregnancies in several species, but not yet in humans. Contrary to claims made many years ago, neither organ is privileged immunologically, and allografts become rapidly rejected except in hosts whose immune system is deficient or suppressed pharmacologically. All in all, transplantation of these organs, especially the ovary, provides a broad platform of opportunities for research and new applications in reproductive medicine and conservation biology.