The late marriage associated with the social advancement of women has resulted in an increase in the age of women who desire children, which has contributed to the increase in infertile couples.Even in advanced assisted reproductive technology including in vitro fertilization, the results decline in the 40s, so it is thought that not only the hormonal imbalance (disruption of the endocrine environment) but also the ovarian function itself has started to decline before menopause. Has been done.However, the reason why ovarian function declines sharply after the age of 40 has not been clarified so far.
A research group at Hiroshima University replaced "changes in ovarian function with aging" = "increased number of ovulation experiences" and hypothesized that repeated inflammatory conditions of ovulation would lead to chronic inflammation and reduce ovarian function.Then, a model mouse of "a case in which follicle development into a follicle-like follicle is hardly observed (low responder case)", which is often found in infertile patients aged 40 years or older, was created by genetic modification, and an attempt was made to prove this hypothesis.
As a result, it was found that steroid hormone-producing cells accumulate as the number of ovulations increases, and a large amount of gonadotropin is secreted, causing ovarian tissue fibrosis.Then, it was clarified that this fibrosis of ovarian tissue suppresses follicle development and reduces ovarian function.
Furthermore, when these mice were treated to suppress the secretion of gonadotropin for a long period of time, they induced ovarian tissue defibrosis (ovarian rejuvenation) and improved fertility (ease of pregnancy).
This suggests that improvement of the endocrine environment may restore fertility, and is expected to be applied to infertility treatment of elderly women in the future.
Paper information:[Aging Cell] The acceleration of reproductive aging in Nrg1flox / flox; Cyp19-Cre female mic
