Abstract

One of the challenges that must be overcome during ovarian tissue transplantation is Ischaemia/Reperfusion Injury (IRI). The most important hypothesis explaining the cellular events in I/R processes are calcium overload and oxygen free radicals constitute. Here, we study the effect of verapamil on IRI, and consequently on follicle survival during ovarian transplants in an autograft model. Female mice were randomly assigned into three groups in order to ovarian autotransplantation as follow: Group 1 (Control group), Group 2 (Transplanted group) and Groups 3 (Transplanted + Verapamil group). The grafted ovaries were collected at 3, 7 and 14 days after transplantation for evaluation of follicle content and morphology, apoptosis and Malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration. The results showed that verapamil treatment significantly preserved primordial follicular reserve and reduced the number of degenerated follicles compared to the transplanted group (P < 0.05). MDA levels were significantly higher on the 14th day after transplantation, in group 2 than in group 3. In conclusion, verapamil treatment is effective for the preservation of the follicular pool and reducing tissue damage induced by transplantation of ovarian tissue.