Current understanding of ovarian aging

The reproductive system of human female exhibits a much faster rate of aging than other body systems. Ovarian aging is thought to be dominated by a gradual decreasing numbers of follicles, coinciding with diminished quality of oocytes. Menopause is the final step in the process of ovarian aging. This review focuses on the mechanisms underlying the ovarian aging involving a poor complement of follicles at birth and a high rate of attrition each month, as well as the alternated endocrine factors. We also discuss the possible causative factors that contribute to ovarian aging, e.g., genetic factors, accumulation of irreparable damage of microenvironment, pathological effect and other factors. The appropriate and reliable methods to assess ovarian aging, such as quantification of follicles, endocrine measurement and genetic testing have also been discussed. Increased knowledge of the ovarian aging mechanisms may improve the prevention of premature ovarian failure.

• Publication year

  2012

• Venue

  Science China Life Sciences

• Publication date

  2012-08-30

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1007/s11427-012-4352-5PMID 22932881
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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