• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.19-24
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to compare the efficiency of slow freezing with that of vitrification method for the cryopreservation of human embryos. Human embryos were derived from in vitro fertilization (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and the mixed solution of propanedial (1.5, 1.0, 0.5M PROH) and sucrose (0.1M), ethylene glycol (7.5, 15%), dimethyl sulfoxide (7.5, 15% DMSO), sucrose (0.5, 1.0M) and SPS (Serum Protein Substitute) was used for a cryoprotectant for slow freezing and vitrification solution, respectively. Rates of recovery after thawing, morphological normality, post-thaw viability, arrest, morphological abnormality and preimplantation development were compared between two protocols. After freezing-thawing, recovery and survial rate of slow freezing was (88.6% and 73.4%), whereas vitrification was (99.2% and 96.2%) (p<0.05). The arrest rate of slow freezing was significantly lower compared with those of vitrification(8.7% vs 29.9%) (p<0.05). Preimplantation development to the 2-cell (83.8% vs 67.7%), 4-cell (69.0% vs 47.2%) and 8-cell (62.4% vs 37.8%) stages 24, 48 and 72 h after thawing, respectively, were higher in the slow freezing than the vitrification. After slow freezing and vitrification of human embryo at 2-8cell stage, the rate of recovery rate, survival rate and partial damage rate were 92.0% vs 100%, 80.4% vs 96.2% and 52.2% vs 19.0%, respectively. And partial damage rate was significantly lower than those of slow freezing method (p<0.05). These results demonstrate that a slow freezing using PROH is more efficient than a vitrification for cryopreserving the human zygotes, although the vitrification yielded better recovery, survival and partial damage of frozen-thawed 2-8 cell stage embryos than slow freezing method.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 2014

This study was carried out to study the survival rate of thawed Hanwoo embryos frozen by the slow-rate freezing or the cryotop vitrification method. Hanwoo cumulus-oocyte complexes were recovered from ovaries at a slaughter house, matured for 20~22 hours, fertilized with Hanwoo semen for 5~6 hours, and cultured for 7~9 days in $38.5^{\circ}C$, 5% $CO_2$ incubator. For freezing, Day 7~9 blastocysts were collected. Embryos for the slow-rate freezing were equilibrated in 1.8 M ethylene glycol (EG) with Dulbecco's phosphate-buffered saline (D-PBS). Programmable cell freezer was precooled down to $-7^{\circ}C$, and the straw was seeded during 8 minutes-holding time, and was cooled to $-35^{\circ}C$ at the cooling rate of $0.3^{\circ}C/min$, and then was plunged and stored in liquid nitrogen. Embryos for the cryotop vitrification were treated in TCM199 with 0.5 M sucrose, 16% EG, 16% dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). Embryos were then loaded individually onto cryotop and plunged directly into liquid nitrogen. The survival rates of embryos frozen by these two freezing methods were evaluated at 12 to 24h post-thawing. The survival rates of frozen/thawed Hanwoo embryos by the cryotop vitrification method ($56.86{\pm}26.53%$) were slightly higher than those by the slow-rate freezing method ($55.07{\pm}26.43%$) with no significant difference. Using the cryotop vitrification and the slow-rate freezing of Hanwoo blastocysts on Day 7 following in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment, the survival rates of frozen/thawed Hanwoo embryos were $72.65{\pm}18.3%$ and $79.06{\pm}17.8%$, respectively. The survival rates by the cryotop vitrification were higher than those by the slow-rate freezing on both Day 8 and 9 with significantly higher survival rate on Day 9 (p<0.05). Using the cryotop vitrification and the slow-rate freezing of Hanwoo embryos to compare between three different blastocyst stages, the survival rates of the blastocyst stage embryos were $66.22{\pm}18.8%$ and $45.76{\pm}12.8%$, respectively with higher survival rate by the vitrification method (p<0.05). And the survival rate of expanded blastocysts was higher than those of early blastocysts and blastocysts in two freezing methods with significantly higher survival rate by the slow-rate freezing method (p<0.05).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.174-180
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• 2009

This study was carried out to establish an appropriate condition for the efficient cryopreservation of the mouse pronuclear embryo. In vitro cryopreservation of pronuclear embryos was carried out by slow freezing or vitrification methods and development rate of 2-cell, blastocyst and hatched blastocyst was measured as well as survival rate of the thawed pronuclear embryo. After slow freezing, vitrification and thawing of mouse pronuclear embryos, the survival rate and blastocyst development rate for the vitrification group was 97.3 and 53.4%, respectively, which was significantly higher as compared to the slow freezing group with 88.6 and 23.9%, respectively (p<0.05). Blastocyst developmental rate in each experimental group was significantly higher for 21 h in the post-hCG group at 40.5-57.0% than the 24 h post-hCG group at 40.5% (p<0.05). ICM (Inner cell mass) cell numbers of blastocyst-stage embryos during the different stages of mouse pronuclear embryos, slow freezing and vitrification period in the control and vitrification groups were 22.1${\pm}$2.7 and 17.0${\pm}$3.1-22.0${\pm}$3.2, respectively; hence, the slow freezing group (10.2${\pm}$2.0) had significantly higher cell numbers than those of the other two groups (p<0.05). Trophoblast (TE) cell number in the control group, 65.8${\pm}$12.6, was significantly higher than in the slow freezing group, 41.6${\pm}$11.1 (p<0.05). The total cell numbers in the control group and 21 h post hCG group were 87.9${\pm}$13.6 and 81.8${\pm}$14.1, respectively, and were significantly higher than for the slow freezing group (51.8${\pm}$12.6; p<0.05).

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.283-289
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• 2000

Objective: The study was performed to compare the survival rate and the development of day 2 mouse embryos which had freezing procedures done. Methods: We used three different vitrification solutions (EFS, VS14, DPS) and a ultrarapid freezing solution (UFS) for cryopreservation of day 2 mouse embryo. Results: We tested toxicity by exposing embryos to vitirification solutions and a ultrarapid freezing solution. The survival rates are 100%, 97.8%, 95.6% and 100% (EFS, VS14, DPS and UFS). After cultured for 96 hours, hatching rates of each group are 93.5% (no freezing), 95.6% (EFS), 86.4% (VS14), 93.0% (DPS), and 93.0% (UFS). There is no significant differences among groups. The survival rates after thawing cryopreserved embryos are 80.2%, 91.7%, 69.5%, 0% and 91.8% (slow freezing, EFS, VS14, DPS and UFS). Also cultured for 96 hours, the hatching rates are 93.5% (no freezing), 84.1% (slow freezing), 93.9% (EFS), 48.5% (VS14) and 70.1% (UFS). Conclusion: The survival rates of vitrification in EFS solution and ultrarapid freezing are higher than slow freezing (p<0.05). The hatching rate of vitrification in EFS solution cultured for 96 hours is highest, so vitrification of day 2 mouse embryos in EFS solution considered as more effective for cryopreservation.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.201-207
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• 2011

The present study was performed to investigate the survival and subsequent embryonic developmental rate of immature and mature oocytes after vitrification and pronuclear stage embryos after slow-freezing and vitrification. We have also tried to examine the dependency of concentrations (7.5, 15%) and exposure time (5, 10, 20 min) of ED cryoprotectant on developmental rate of pronuclear stage embryos. The developmental rates of 2-ce1l and blastocyst embryos at mature oocytes were significantly (p<0.05) higher than immature oocytes. After slow freezing, vitrification and thawing of pronuclear stage embryo, the survival and developmental rates of blastocysts and hatched blastocysts were significantly (p<0.05) higher after vitrification than after slow-freezing. On contrary, the developmental rates of 2-cell embryos were significantly (p<0.05) higher after slow freezing than after vitrification. The cryopreservation methods of pronuclear stage embryos vitrified by exposed to 7.5% ED solution for 5 minutes was significantly (p<0.05) higher than other experimental group. The results of our study suggest 1hat the developmental rates of mature oocytes have been more successful than immature oocytes during vitrification. Vitrification was more efficient than slow freezing in case of pronuclear stage embryos. The effective cryopreservation method of pronuclear stage embryos was vitrified by exposed to 7.5% ED solution for 5 minutes.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.650-655
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• 2016

This study investigated the effects of artificial supercooling followed by still air freezing (SSF) on the qualities of pork loin. The qualities of pork frozen by SSF were compared with the fresh control (CT, stored at 4℃ for 24 h), slow freezing (SAF, still air freezing) and rapid freezing (EIF, ethanol immersion freezing) treatments. Compared with no supercooling phenomena of SAF and EIF, the extent of supercooling obtained by SSF treatment was 1.4℃. Despite that SSF was conducted with the same method with SAF, application of artificial supercooling accelerated the phase transition (traverse from -0.6℃ to -5℃) from 3.07 h (SAF) to 2.23 h (SSF). The observation of a microstructure indicated that the SSF prevented tissue damage caused by ice crystallization and maintained the structural integrity. The estimated quality parameters reflected that SSF exhibited superior meat quality compared with slow freezing (SAF). SSF showed better water-holding capacity (lower thawing loss, cooking loss and expressible moisture) and tenderness than SAF, and these quality parameters of SSF were not significantly different with ultra-fast freezing treatment (EIF). Consequently, the results demonstrated that the generation of supercooling followed by conventional freezing potentially had the advantage of minimizing the quality deterioration caused by the slow freezing of meat.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.117-124
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• 2007

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of slow freezing with vitrification method for cryopreservation of mouse pronuclear stage embryos. Methods: Mouse pronuclear embryos obtained from superovulated mice and classified into 2 groups of slow freezing and vitrification. Slow freezing solution consisted of 1.5 M PROH, 0.1 M sucrose, while vitrification solution consisted of 40% ethylene glycol, 18% Ficoll and 0.5 M sucrose diluted in Dulbecco's phosphate-buffered saline supplemented with 10% SSS. Recovery and survival rates after thawing and development rates to hatching balstocyst stage were compared between two groups. Results: After freezing and thawing, recovery rate of slow freezing group was 93.8%, whereas vitrification group was 66.5% (p<0.01). Survival rate of recovered embryos were similar between two groups as 83.2% in slow freezing and 87.6% in vitrification. Embryo development rates to 2-cell stage after 24 hrs (77.0% vs 59.1%), 4-cell after 48 hrs (72.6% vs 53.3%), blastocyst after 96 hrs (53.1% vs 40.1%) of thawing were significantly higher in vitrification group than those of slow freezing group, respectively. Conclusion: The vitrification method may provide better developmental competence of frozen-thawed embryos than that of slow freezing method for cryopreservation of mouse pronuclear stage embryos.

• Journal of Embryo Transfer
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 1998

In order to improve the cryopreservation by vitrification or slow freezing of nuclear transplant rabbit embryos, the effects of factors affecting embryo cryopreservation such as cryoprotectants, equilibration, cooling rate and post-thaw dilution on post-thaw survial and development were determined using intact embryos of morular stage. And the post-thaw development of nuclear transplanted embryos cryopreserved under the optimal conditions examined was compared between vitrification and slow freezing. The cryoprotectant solution used was ethyleneglycol-ficoll-sucrose (EFS) or ethyleneglycol-poly-vinylpyrrolidone-galactose- I (EPG- I ) for vitrification, and EPG- II for slow freezing. To examine the viability of frozen-thawed embryos, the nuclear transplanted embryos were co-cultured in TCM-199 plus 10% FBS with bovine oviduct epithelial cells(BOEC) for 24 hrs and the intact morulae were co-cultured with BOEC for 5 days and 3 days to hatching blastocyst stage in 39 ˚C 5% $CO_2$ incubator. The results obtained were as follows: Following vitrification with EFS, the post-thaw development of rabbit morulae to hatching blastocyst was significantly(P<0.05) higher in compacted stage(82.4%) than in early morular stage(60.0%). The post-thaw development of compacted morulae to hatching blastocyst was similarly high in vitrification with EFS(82.4%), EPG- I (85.0%) and in slow freezing with EPG- II (83.3%). Following vitrification with EPG- I, the post-thaw development of intact rabbit morulae to hatching blastocyst was similar as 78.0% and 85.0% in 1-step and 2-step post-thaw dilution, respectively. The post-thaw development of nuclear transplanted rabbit embryos of compacted morulae stage to hatching blastocyst was similarly 43.6% and 40.0% in vitrification with EPG- Iand slow freezing with EPG- II, respectively. These results indicated that the rabbit nuclear transplant and intact embryos of morulae stage could be well cryopreserved with either vitrification or slow freezing procedure.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.121-129
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• 2001

Objective: The aim of this study is to compare the efficiency of a method for the cryopreservation of mouse blastocyst.. Methods: Mouse embryos were obtained at 2-cell stage and cultured to blastocyst stage in T6 medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum. Morphologically normal blastocysts were collected and randomly divided to one control and four experimental groups. In control group, blastocysts were cultured in vitro continuously for additional two days. In group 2, blastocysts were exposed to vitrification solution (ethylene glycol) only without cryopreservation (exposure only group). In group 3, 4 and 5, blastocysts were cryopreserved by slow-freezing procedure with glycerol (slow-fteezing group) or by vitrification procedure using EM grids (EM grids group) and cryoloop (cryoloop group), respectively. Frozen blastocysts were thawed and cultured for additional two days. Twenty four hours after thawing, some blastocysts were fixed and stained with Hoechst 33342 (bisbenzimide) and the number of nuclei in each blastocysts were counted to confirm the survival of bias to cysts in experimental groups. Results: Survival rate and hatching rate of the blastocysts in slow-freezing group (24 h: 72.4% and 66.0%, 48 h: 63.2% and 64.6%) and EM grids group (24 h: survival rate 77.3%, 48 h: 70.1% and 71.4%) were significantly lower ($X^2$-test p<0.05) than those of control group (24 h: 93.4% and 86.0%, 48 h: 88.5% and 90.7%). In contrast, the survival rate and hatching rate of the blastocysts in cryoloop group (24 h: 84.1% and 84.1%,48 h 79.3% and 87.7%) is well compared with those in the control group. The mean (${\pm}SD$) cell number of blastocyst in the exposure only ($89.2{\pm}11.5$), EM grids ($85.0{\pm}10.3$) and cryoloop ($89.0{\pm}11.0$) groups, except slow-freezing group ($79.0{\pm}10.0$), were not significantly different from that of control group ($93.1{\pm}13.9$) 24 h after thawing (Student's t-test). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that higher survival rate of vitrified-thawed mouse blastocyst can be obtained using cryoloop as the embryo container at freezing rather than slow-freezing or vitrification using EM grids. The results of this study suggest that vitrification using cryoloop (with ethylene glycol) may be a preferable procedure for mouse blastocyst cryopreservation and could be applied to the human blastocyst cryopreservation.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.665-670
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• 2011

The rotifer Brachionus plicatilis is one of the most important food organisms in aquaculture. The resting eggs produced by mictic female rotifers are easily stored and hatched, making them useful as the starter for the mass culture of rotifers in marine larval culture. This study examined the optimum preservation method for resting eggs to ensure a high hatching rate. To produce resting eggs, the marine rotifer B. plicatilis was cultured with Nannochloris oculata (KMMCC 16). The resting eggs were harvested and cryopreserved using 5% and 10% methanol (MeOH), dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), and glycerol as cryoprotectant agents (CPAs). The cryopreservation comprised slow or rapid freezing and the resting eggs were stored for one month in liquid nitrogen ($-196^{\circ}C$). The resting eggs were also dried at different temperatures (30, 40, and $50^{\circ}C$) and for different times (1, 2, and 3 h). In general, the hatching rates of the resting eggs preserved with CPA were higher than those without CPA and the slow freezing method was better than the rapid freezing method. However, the optimum CPA concentration for the hatching rate of the resting eggs varied with the freezing method and kind of CPA, and the CPA also affected the viability of the resting eggs. Dried resting eggs had a high, rapid hatching rate over 80%. The moisture content of the resting eggs cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen affected the hatching rate. Drying at $30^{\circ}C$ for 1 hour resulted in a high hatching rate of the resting eggs. In conclusion, drying at $30^{\circ}C$ for 1 hour and preservation in liquid nitrogen with the slow freezing method, without CPA, is recommended for a high hatching rate (ca. 95%) of rotifer resting eggs.