BACKGROUND Aging is associated with the loss of endocrine function. In this study, Vitex agnus-castus (Vitex), which has antioxidant effects and high levels of phytoestrogen, was investigated with regard to the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and antioxidant indices in natural aging and in a d-galactose induced aging model in female mice. METHODS The mice were subcutaneously injected with...

age at menopause using serum concentration of anti-mullerian hormone. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2013;98:729–735. Titus S, Li F, Stobezki R, Akula K, Unsal E, Jeong K, Dickler M, Robson M, Moy F, Goswami S et al. Impairment of BRCA1-related DNA doublestrand break repair leads to ovarian aging in mice and humans. Sci Transl Med 2013;5:172ra21. Tremellen K, Savulescu J. Ovarian reserve screening: a ...

Age-specific incidence of epithelial ovarian cancer indicates a hormonal etiology and relates it to menopause, a time during the aging process when ovaries fail but the pituitary becomes overactive to produce a greater amount of gonadotropins. There is a 10-fold to 20-fold increase in the follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) level and a 3-fold to 5-fold increase in the luteinizing hormone (LH) le...

Recent studies challenge the previous view that apoptosis within the granulosa cells of the maturing ovarian follicle is a reflection of aging and consequently a marker for poor quality of the contained oocyte. On the contrary, apoptosis within the granulosa cells is an integral part of normal development and has limited predictive capability regarding oocyte quality or the ensuing pregnancy ra...

TIGHT JUNCTION BARRIER FUNCTION IN OVARIAN CANCER CELLS* Theresa D’Souza, Rachana Agarwal and Patrice J. Morin From the Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Gerontology Research Center, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore MD 21224 and theDepartment of Pathology, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, MD 21287 Running title: phosphorylation of claudin-3 in ovarian cancer ...

In this investigation we describe our observations of the status of the aging ovary in mice with disruption of the receptor for FSH. Knockout mice at 3-5 months of age are acyclic and sterile, with very small, underdeveloped ovaries. Thus, they exhibit hypergonadotropic-hypogonadism with high levels of circulating FSH similar to the postmenopausal state in women. By 12 months more than 92% of t...

Although PDGF family members play a vital role in cell proliferation, motility and chemotaxis via activation of structurally similar alpha- and beta-receptors, little is known of their function in ovarian regulation and induction of tumorigenesis. Microarray analyses of ovaries from young follitropin receptor knockout (FORKO) mice that are prone to late ovarian tumors upon aging have revealed s...

thyroid gland dysfunction is associated with disorders of female reproductive functions. the aim of this study was to examine the effects of hyperthyroidism on ovulation rate and peripheral sex steroid levels in prepubertal and adult rats. two groups of female rats aging 30 days (prepubertal rats) and 60 days (adult rats) were made hyperthyroid by oral administration of levothyroxine daily. in ...