Background: Mesenchymal Stem Cells are capable of secreting angiogenic and anti apoptotic factors which may reduce post transplantion damage in the grafted ovaries. The aim was to investigate the effect of graft site pretreatment with the suspension of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (rBMSCs) just before ovarian transplantation on the structure and function mice grafted ovaries. Methods: NMRI mice (4-5 weeks age) were divided into three groups (n=6): control (freshly isolated ovaries), autografted + BMSCs (1million BMSCs per 5µl saline) and autografted (5µl saline). In the transplanted groups, the graft sires were treated just before ovarian transplantation. 7 days after ovarian transplantation, the starting day of the estrous cycle was determined and 28 days following transplantation, the ovaries were stereologically studied and the plasma concentrations of estradiol and progesterone were also evaluated. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Turkey’s test and the means were considered significantly different at p. Result: The mean total volume of ovary, cortex and medulla, the number of follicles, the levels of estradiol and progesterone and the estrous cycle recovery rate decreased significantly in the autografted group compared to the control, while the above parameters increased significantly in the autografted + BMSCs group compared to the autografted group. Conclusion: Transplantation site treatment with rBMSCs improves the structure and function of transplanted ovaries and therefore it could be considered as a new method in the ovary transplantation protocol with less side effect.
