Application of Autologous Platelet-Rich Plasma-Supplemented Medium Promotes In Vitro Maturation of Human Germinal...

Oocyte in vitro maturation (IVM) is a valuable technology applied to acquire fully developed oocytes for several clinical purposes. Despite substantial research on optimizing culture media, the success rate of IVM remains low. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) contains several growth factors that has been found to improve ovarian function in women with a variety of reproductive issues, including poor ovarian response (POR) and primary ovarian insufficiency (POI). The current study aimed to determine whether adding autologous PRP to the culture medium could promote IVM outcomes in retrieved human oocytes.

In this experimental research, a total of 200 immature oocytes at the germinal vesicle (GV) stage with normal morphology were collected from 76 women who participated in the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) procedure. Immature oocytes were randomly distributed into the following two groups: i. The control group, which was cultured in IVM medium for 48 hours and ii. The treatment group, which was incubated in IVM medium supplemented with autologous PRP (5%) for 48 hours at 37°C.

Our results showed that the percentage of GV oocytes that progressed into the metaphase II (MII) phase was significantly (P<0.05) increased in the PRP group (34%), as compared to the control group (19%). Moreover, schmorl staining revealed that the number of mature oocytes with refractile bodies (RBs, >5 μm) diminished in the PRP group compared with the control group. However, the differences failed to reach statistical significance.

Taken together, our finding demonstrated that adding autologous PRP to the conventional IVM medium increased the meiotic potential of human immature oocytes, probably due to the present of growth factors. This study indicates that PRP may be a beneficial supplement for improving IVM medium.