Retrospective Cohort Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Apr 26, 2023; 11(12): 2684-2693
Published online Apr 26, 2023. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i12.2684
Analysis of oxidative stress and antioxidative potential in premature ovarian insufficiency
Kaoru Kakinuma, Toshiyuki Kakinuma
Kaoru Kakinuma, Toshiyuki Kakinuma, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, International Health and Welfare Hospital, Nasushiobara 327-2763, Japan
Author contributions: Kakinuma K and Kakinuma T contributed to the methodology, software design, validation, and formal analysis, writing-original draft preparation, writing-review and editing, visualization, supervision, and project administration.
Institutional review board statement: The present study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the International Health and Welfare Hospital (approval No. 21-Im-075, approved on 3/22/2022).
Informed consent statement: All study participants or their legal guardian provided informed written consent about personal and medical data collection prior to study enrolment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the Authors have no conflict of interest related to the manuscript.
Data sharing statement: The original anonymous dataset is available on request from the corresponding author at tokakinuma@gmail.com.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Toshiyuki Kakinuma, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, International Health and Welfare Hospital, 537-3, Iguchi, Nasushiobara 327-2763, Japan. tokakinuma@gmail.com
Received: January 6, 2023
Peer-review started: January 6, 2023
First decision: January 30, 2023
Revised: February 20, 2023
Accepted: March 23, 2023
Article in press: March 23, 2023
Published online: April 26, 2023
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) is characterized by an early decline in ovarian function, inducing secondary amenorrhea. While the cause of POI has not yet been identified, the function of mitochondria in the ovaries and the cytotoxicity associated with reactive oxygen species (ROS) have been implicated in follicle pool depletion and a decline in follicle quality. Recently developed tests have enabled easy measurement of diacron-reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROMs) and biological antioxidant potential (BAP). The combination of these two tests is used to comprehensively assess oxidative stress in the blood.

AIM

To comprehensively assess the oxidative stress of d-ROMs and BAP in POI.

METHODS

Participants were classified into two groups: A POI group of 11 women aged < 40 years examined between January 2021 and June 2022 with a history of secondary amenorrhea for at least 4 mo in our hospital and an FSH value of ≥ 40 mIU/mL; and a control group of healthy women of the same age with normal ovarian function in our hospital. Plasma d-ROMs and BAP were measured in both these groups underwent. Differences between groups were assessed using the t-test.

RESULTS

The mean age and mean body mass index (BMI) were 35.8 ± 3.0 years and 20.1 ± 1.9 kg/m2 in the control group and 35.8 ± 2.7 years and 19.4 ± 2.5 kg/m2 in the POI group, respectively. The mean gravidity and parity in control and POI groups were 0.6 ± 0.7 and 0.4 ± 0.5 and 0.6 ± 0.9 and 0.3 ± 0.5, respectively. The two groups did not differ significantly in terms of mean age, BMI, gravidity, or parity. The d-ROMs level was significantly higher in the POI group than in the control group (478.2 ± 58.7 vs 341.1 ± 35.1 U.CARR; P < 0.001); however, the BAP level did not significantly differ between the two groups (2078.5 ± 157.4 vs 2029.0 ± 186.4 μmol/L). The oxidase stress index (d-ROMs/BAP × 100) was significantly higher in the POI group than in the control group (23.7 ± 3.3 vs 16.5 ± 2.1; P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Oxidative stress was significantly greater in the POI group than in the control group, suggesting oxidative stress as a factor that can serve as a POI biomarker.

Keywords: Premature ovarian insufficiency, Reactive oxygen species, Oxidative stress, Ovary, Antioxidant

Core Tip: We hypothesized that oxidative stress, suggested to be a factor in premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) and a potential POI biomarker, is likely a useful target for the treatment and early intervention for various conditions, including early POI diagnosis and infertility treatment. In this retrospective study, we discovered that oxidative stress was significantly higher in patients with POI than in healthy controls, suggesting the use of this measurement as a biomarker of POI.