Published online Jan 26, 2024. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i3.479
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
Processing time: 146 Days and 4.3 Hours
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.
There is a need to discover biomarkers for the early detection of POI and investigate the underlying etiology.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.