Case Control Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jan 26, 2024; 12(3): 479-487
Published online Jan 26, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i3.479
Significance of oxidative stress and antioxidant capacity tests as biomarkers of premature ovarian insufficiency: A case control study
Kaoru Kakinuma, Toshiyuki Kakinuma
Kaoru Kakinuma, Toshiyuki Kakinuma, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, International University of Health and Welfare Hospital, Tochigi 329-2763, Japan
Kaoru Kakinuma, Graduate School of Medicine, International University of Health and Welfare, Tokyo 107-8402, Japan
Author contributions: Kakinuma K and Kakinuma T were involved in conceptualizing the study, designing the methodology, validating the results, and performing formal analyses; They also conducted the investigation and curated the data for the research; Kakinuma K took the lead in writing the original draft of the manuscript; Both Kakinuma K and Kakinuma T contributed to reviewing and editing the manuscript to ensure its accuracy and clarity; They collaborated on visualizing the findings and providing supervision throughout the project; Kakinuma T handled project administration duties; Both authors have thoroughly reviewed the manuscript and have given their approval for its publication.
Institutional review board statement: This study was conducted with the approval of the ethics committee of our hospital (Ethics Review Committee, International University of Health and Welfare, approval number: 21-Im-075, approval date: 2022.3.22).
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 declare that they have no conflicts of interest related to the manuscript.
Data sharing statement: The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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 University of Health and Welfare Hospital, Iguchi, Nasushiobara, Tochigi 329-2763, Japan. tokakinuma@gmail.com
Received: August 25, 2023
Peer-review started: August 25, 2023
First decision: November 20, 2023
Revised: November 27, 2023
Accepted: January 2, 2024
Article in press: January 2, 2024
Published online: January 26, 2024
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) is a condition that causes secondary amenorrhea owing to decreased ovarian function before the age of 40 years. Early follicle depletion causes intractable infertility and considerably reduces a woman’s quality of life. Mitochondrial function within the egg and cytotoxicity caused by the accompanying reactive oxygen species have been suggested to be one of the factors involved in contributing to the decrease in the number of remaining follicles and the decline in oocyte quality owing to the decline in ovarian function. There is a continuum in the decline of ovarian function, including incipient ovarian failure (IOF), transitional ovarian failure, and POI.

Research motivation

There is a need to discover biomarkers for the early detection of POI and investigate the underlying etiology.

Research objectives

This study aimed to comprehensively evaluate the oxidative stress state in IOF and POI by determining oxidative stress [diacron-reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROMs)] and antioxidant potential [biological antioxidant potential BAP)] to explore their potential as biomarkers for the early detection of POI.

Research methods

This study included 11 women with secondary amenorrhea for ≥ 4 mo and an FSH level of ≥ 40 mIU/mL in the POI group and 11 women with normal menstrual cycles and an FSH level of ≥ 10.2 mIU/mL in the IOF group. d-ROMs and BAP in the plasma of each group were measured with healthy women of the same age without ovarian function decline as the control group.

Research results

In the POI and IOF groups, d-ROMs and oxidative stress index were significantly higher than those in the control group. Regarding BAP, no significant difference was observed between the three groups.

Research conclusions

Oxidative stress (d-ROMs, oxidative stress index) in the IOF and POI groups was considerably higher than that in the control group, suggesting that evaluating oxidative stress status is a useful indicator for the early detection of POI.

Research perspectives

d-ROMs and OSI were significantly higher in the IOF group, which is the pre-POI transition stage as well as in the POI group compared with that in the control group, and the evaluation of oxidative stress status may be a useful biomarker for the early diagnosis of POI. It is expected that this finding will be useful for early intervention in treatments such as infertility treatment.