Experimental animal model for treatment of absolute uterine factor infertility

Abstract

Reproductive organ transplantation was considered as a potential method for treatment of the ovarian factor, tubal factor, and uterine factor infertility before the advent of advanced assisted reproductive technologies. Uterus transplantation can be considered as the method for treatment of absolute uterine factor infertility similar to transplantation of non-vital organs. However, the clinical use of uterus transplantation in humans causes a lot of problems. The study was aimed to develop a program for assessment of various surgical tissue revascularization techniques for restoration of reproductive function in experimental animals with uterine factor infertility. Chinchilla rabbits (n = 20) were selected for experiments because of the fact that all mammals have similar structure of the organs. The innovative technique involving the use of ovarian arteries instead of uterine arteries (as in the standard protocol) was used in laboratory animals to develop the surgical protocol for transplantation of reproductive tissues. The animal study results show that hemodynamic characteristics of blood supply to the transplanted uterus remain unchanged. This makes it possible to use the surgical method in the experiments on the uterus transplant from a deceased donor. The proposed uterus transplantation protocol ensures high transplant survival rate and normal blood supply to the transplant, along with the reduced risk of injury to the donor and reduced complexity of the surgical procedure.