The clock is running for would-be parents hoping to have a baby. There is a new study in mice. Reducing the amount of stiff tissue that is accumulated by ovaries as they age restores fertility in the animals, raising the possibility that the same approach could be used in humans.
Duncan wasn't connected to the research, but she said it was a huge advance. Treatment for the age related decline in fertility is not a pipe dream according to the results.
At age 30 female fertility starts to decline. The scientists don't know why. fibrosis is an abnormal proliferation of tough, supporting material. As we get older, fibrosis can stiffen the heart, lungs, and other organs.
Ovarian fibrosis was being investigated by a group of people at the University of Australia. Female mice don't go through menopause but their reproduction abilities decline as they get older.
15-month-old mice were given an approved drug to reduce fibrosis. More than half of the rodents were able to ovulate because of the medication. The eggs were sound when they were fertilized in a lab dish.
The mice were older than most people at fertility clinics. The drug was tested on 12-month-old rodents, which are comparable to 35-year-olds. Rebecca Robker is a reproductive Biologist and study senior author at the University ofAdelaide. The drug doubled the number of eggs the animalsovulated. The eggs appeared to be in good shape. The drug didn't work for younger mice.
The researchers were unsure if reduced fibrosis drove the improved fertility. She says that they didn't know if Fibrosis would be able to be reversed. The amount of fibrosis in the mice that received the drug was lower than in the mice that did not.
Ovarian fibrosis can be caused by faulty mitochondria, the part of the cell that provides energy. As mice and humans get older, these structures begin to malfunction, producing less of the energy-rich molecule that cells need and generating more destructive metabolism.
Robker and colleagues injected 14-month-old mice with a drug that tunes up the mitochondria to see if it could be used to investigate infertility. The rodents ovulated more than twice as many eggs and showed less inflammation in their ovaries.
Metformin, an antidiabetes drug prescribed for infertility, and MitoQ, an antiaging supplement, were tested by the team. Ovarian fibrosis was reduced in old mice but they did not get pregnant.
Ovarian fibrosis is linked to the decline in fertility in humans. fibrosis was found in the ovaries of obese mice. They found that BGP-15, Metformin, and MitoQ reduced the fiber build-up in these animals and caused them to become pregnant.
This is the first evidence that links age-associated ovarian fibrosis with a reduction in fertility and shows that reducing it in any way can extend reproduction. She cautions that diminishing fibrosis did not improve the mice's reproductive health. It's helpful but not a reversal.
Robker says that it's not certain how fibrosis undermines fertility. An egg matures inside a cradle called a follicle, which balloons to a million times its original size before bursting to release the egg. The build-up of tissue might prevent the growth of eggs. According to the researchers, BGP-15 spurs mice to produce an activity that may lead to the release of the follicles.
Clinical trials can be launched to test BGP-15. It's difficult to determine who has developed fibrosis because the ovaries are tucked away deep in the abdomen. Robker says that they need a way to get there.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
