Surrogate embryo transfer combined with estrogen-progesterone therapy in monkeys. Implantation, gestation, and delivery without ovaries
G. D. Hodgen
The collection of in vivo fertilized embryos by lavage of the normal
donor's uterotubal lumens and transfer of these surrogate embryos to the
uterotubal environs of long-term castrate female monkeys is described.
Sequential estrogen-progesterone replacement therapy that mimics the
natural ovarian-menstrual cycle was administered to the recipients, causing
the development of proliferative and secretory endometrium to accommodate
the perinidatory events leading to successful placentation and
embryogenesis. Retrograde irrigation of the uterotubal lumens of 23 normal
intact donors was performed three to four days after the estimated time of
ovulation, coitus, and fertilization. Of the 17 embryos or eggs collected,
some were apparently healthy, as assessed by microscopic inspection,
whereas others were obviously degenerating. Eleven surrogate embryos were
transferred to steroid-treated, long-term castrate female recipients; four
viable pregnancies were detected by measurement of chorionic gonadotropin,
all concluding with uneventful deliveries of normal live neonates at term.
These findings demonstrate the feasibility of establishing and maintaining
normal pregnancy by combining surrogate embryo transfer with an exogenous
steroid hormone regimen, even in the complete absence of ovarian function.
The clinical implications of these primate studies may be far-reaching
because they indicate new potential for childbearing by otherwise infertile
or sterile women who have a competent uterus but lack the hormonal milieu
provided by ovarian follicular maturation and corpus luteum function in the
normal menstrual cycle.
