Abstract:Objective To compare the effect of three cryoprotectants on vitrification-cryopreservation of C57BL/6J mouse epididymis. Method Epididymises from 6-8-week old male C57BL/6J mice (age) were cryopreserved using DMSO, PROH and R18S3 cryoprotectant solution and thawed, respectively. The morphology of sperm from thawed epididymis, the rate of post-thawing survival and reproductive capacity were determined to evaluate the freezing efficiency of the three cryoprotectants. Results The sperms from thawed epididymis of the three groups were all well-preserved structurally. The survival rate of sperms was 88.17%, 61.17% and 16.83% in the PROH, DMSO and R18S3 cryoprotectant solutions, respectively, and there were significant differences between the three cryopreservation groups (P<0.05 for all). The number of pups from the DMSO, PROH and R18S3 groups were 13, 8 and 17 mice after ICSI and embryo implantation, respectively. Conclusions All the three cryoprotectants DMSO, PROH and R18S3 solutions are suitable for vitrification-cryopreservation of C57BL/6J mouse epididymis. But PROH is the preference of these cryoprotectant solutions.