Cytogenetic behavior of cryoprotectant DMSO

IVF (in vitro fertilization) is now used worldwide to overcome female or male infertility. Cryopreservation of human embryos provides the clearest opportunity to improve the clinical results obtained with IVF. Cryoprotective agents (CPA) are used to minimize freezing injuries. DMSO has been the most widely used CPA, however, high concentrations of CPAs in the vitrification solution have been shown to be detrimental to the cell. In order to determine the effect of DMSO solutions (5%, 10% and 20%) on genetic stability and/or subsequent DNA repair, we have investigated its ability to induce Sister Chromatid Exchanges (SCEs) and Proliferation Rate Index (PRI) in normal human lymphocyte cultures of peripheral blood, due to the fact that the study cannot be conducted on embryos and to the limited number of spare available embryos, the corresponding accessible experimental material was T lymphocyte. The blood samples were taken from three different healthy donors (conducting experimental procedure in triplicate). After the effect of DMSO solutions on blood according to the instructions of kit K-SIBV-500, lymphocytes are harvested and cultured with suitable technique to assess SCEs and PRI. The results show that all three DMSO concentrations cause a statistically dose depended significant increase of SCE frequency of the lymphocytes (p<0.001) and raise the need for more research regarding the safe and effective use of cryoprotectant.