In vitro Maturation (IVM) Perspectives

The basic concept of in vitro maturation (IVM) of oocytes in practice clinic consists of the collection of immature oocytes from small antral follicles before spontaneous ovulation and then left to mature in vitro. IVM is based on the observations of Pincus and Enzmann in 1935 and Edwards in 1965, which highlighted the spontaneous nuclear maturation of the follicles when they were removed from their ovarian context and matured in vitro, and these first discoveries of in vitro folliculogenesis laid the foundations for the present research on the technique of in vitro maturation. In vitro folliculogenesis represents not only the possibility of extending the availability of female gametes in terms of the number of fertilizable oocytes but also a model within which to understand the complex mechanisms that regulate the synergistic development between the follicle and the female gamete. Deeper understanding of the complex orchestration of maturation, nuclear and cytoplasmic, of the oocyte based on research of bases on animal oocytes allowed the clinical application of the IVM technique to begin in reproductive medicine.