Birth of a Western Lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) following in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer

✍ Scribed by Charles E. Pope; Betsy L. Dresser; Neeoo W. Chin; James H. Liu; Naida M. Loskutoff; Erica J. Behnke; Corrine Brown; Molly A. McRae; Charles E. Sinoway; Mark K. Campbell; Kenneth N. Cameron; O'Dell M. Owens; Chad A. Johnson; Ronald R. Evans; Marcelle I. Cedars

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 156 KB
• Volume: 41
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0275-2565
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1098-2345(1997)41:3<247::aid-ajp6>3.0.co;2-x

✦ Synopsis

A 21-year-old multiparous female exhibiting 31-41 day menstrual cycles was given hFSH (225 IU/day, Metrodin 75, from cycle day 3 through 9 (menses = day 1) and hCG (10,000 IU, Profasi, on day 10 to stimulate follicular development. At 35 h after hCG, under isoflurane (AErrane) anesthesia, follicles were aspirated by controlled suction under transvaginal ultrasound guidance. Metaphase II oocytes (n = 11) were placed in modified human tubal fluid (mHTF, 100 µl) medium under oil at 37°C in humidified 5% CO 2 . Frozen semen, collected by voluntary ejaculation, was thawed (70°C H 2 O bath, 6 sec), diluted slowly, centrifuged, and resuspended in mHTF, and 160,000 motile spermatozoa/ml were added at 6 h after oocyte recovery. At 21 h postinsemination (p.i.) eight oocytes were at the two-cell stage, five were cryopreserved, and three were cultured to the six-to eight-cell stage in mHTF with granulosa cells before transcervical uterine transfer at 47 h p.i. using a Teflon catheter. Micronized progesterone (400 mg/d) was orally administered for 10 weeks posttransfer (p.t.). Ultrasound examination revealed a single fetus at 15 weeks p.t., and unassisted delivery of a live 1.37 kg female infant occurred at 29 weeks. Am.