Asian J Androl 2005; 7 (1): 39–43 . 39 . Fertilization of in vitro matured human oocytes by intracyto- plasmic sperm injection (ICSI) using ejaculated and testicular spermatozoa Yun Qian 1,2 , Ting Feng 2 , Juan Chen 2 , Ling-Bo Cai 2 , Jia-Yin Liu 2 , Yun-Dong Mao 2 , Wei Ding 2 , Jia-Hao Sha 1 1 Jiangsu Province Key Lab of Reproductive Medicine, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China 2 Human Clinical Reproductive Medicine Center, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China Abstract Aim: To evaluate the fertilization competence of spermatozoa from ejaculates and testicle when the oocytes were matured in vitro following intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Methods: Fifty-six completed cycles in 46 women with polycystic ovarian syndrome were grouped according to the semen parameters of their male partners. Group 1 was 47 cycles that presented motile and normal morphology spermatozoa in ejaculates and Group 2 was the other nine cycles where male partners were diagnosed as obstructive azoospermia and spermatozoa could only be found in testicular tissue fragment. All female patients received minimal stimulation with gonadotropin. Immature oocytes were matured in vitro and inseminated by ICSI. The spermatozoa from testes were retrieved by testicular fine needle aspiration. Results: A total of 449 and 78 immature oocytes were collected and cultured for 48 hours, 75.5 % (339/449) and 84.6 % (66/78) oocytes were matured in Groups 1 and 2, respectively. The percentage of oocytes achieving normal fertilization was significantly higher in Group 1 than that in Group 2 (72.9 % vs. 54.5 %, P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in the rates of oocytes cleavage and clinical pregnancies in these two groups [87.4 % (216/247) vs. 88.9 % (32/36); 21.3 % (10/47) vs. 44.4 % (4/9)]. A total of 15 babies in the two groups were healthy delivered at term. Conclusion: It appears that IVM combined with ICSI using testicular spermatozoa can produce healthy infants, while the normal fertilization rate of in vitro matured oocytes after ICSI using testicular spermatozoa was significantly lower than using the ejaculated spermatozoa. (Asian J Androl 2005 Mar; 7: 39–43) Keywords: intracytoplasmic sperm injection; immature human oocytes; in vitro maturation; testicular fine needle sperm aspirations . Original Article . Correspondence to: Dr. Yun Qian, Human Clinical Reproductive Medicine Center, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China. Tel: +86-25-8371-1762, Fax: +86-25-8367-4442 E-mail: qianyun@njmu.edu.cn Received 2004-08-20 Accepted 2004-12-06 1 Introduction The ability of immature oocytes to resume meiosis spontaneously when removed from the follicle was first demonstrated by Pincus and Enzman [1]. In vitro matu- ration (IVM) of immature oocytes has been investigated in a spectrum of mammalian species [2]. The technique of IVM of human oocytes has become an attractive op- tion for the treatment of female infertility [3]. Pregnan- © 2005, Asian Journal of Andrology, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-7262.2005.00016.x