The process of ovarian aging: it is not just about oocytes and granulosa cells
- PMID: 35352316
- PMCID: PMC9051003
- DOI: 10.1007/s10815-022-02478-0
The process of ovarian aging: it is not just about oocytes and granulosa cells
Abstract
Ovarian age is classically considered the main cause of female reproductive infertility. In women, the process proceeds as an ongoing decline in the primordial follicle stockpile and it is associated with reduced fertility in the mid-thirties, irregular menstruation from the mid-forties, cessation of fertility, and, eventually, menopause in the early fifties. Reproductive aging is historically associated with changes in oocyte quantity and quality. However, besides the oocyte, other cellular as well as environmental factors have been the focus of more recent investigations suggesting that ovarian decay is a complex and multifaceted process. Among these factors, we will consider mitochondria and oxidative stress as related to nutrition, changes in extracellular matrix molecules, and the associated ovarian stromal compartment where immune cells of both the native and adaptive systems seem to play an important role. Understanding such processes is crucial to design treatment strategies to slow down ovarian aging and consequently prolong reproductive lifespan and, more to this, alleviaingt side effects of menopause on the musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and nervous systems.
Keywords: Aging; Extracellular matrix; Follicular dynamic; Immune cells; Inflammation; Macrophages; Matrisome; Mitochondria; Ovary; Oxidative stress.
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare no competing interests.
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Comment in
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The journey from oogenesis to implantation and beyond: a special issue of JARG by the Italian Society of Embryology, Reproduction and Research (SIERR).J Assist Reprod Genet. 2022 Apr;39(4):781-782. doi: 10.1007/s10815-022-02482-4. Epub 2022 Apr 25. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2022. PMID: 35467239 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
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