Pregnancy after tubo-ovarian transplantation

A rat model was developed for microsurgical en bloc vascularized adnexal isografts and allografts. Transplantation of the fallopian tube and ovary from donors to syngeneic, bilaterally tubo-oophorectomized recipients was technically successful in six of eight animals, and four litters of healthy offspring were delivered at 44, 45, 85, and 105 days after transplantation. Twelve tubo-ovarian allografts using cyclosporine for immunosuppression resulted in seven viable grafts and three pregnancies. Cyclosporine at 15 mg/kg/day was found to be teratogenic, but normal progeny were delivered when the dose was lowered to 5 mg/kg/day during pregnancy. These results suggest that microsurgical tubal transplantation with an appropriate immunosuppressive regimen warrants further investigation as potential treatment for certain infertility problems in the human.