Anat Cell Biol.  2019 Jun;52(2):196-203. 10.5115/acb.2019.52.2.196.

Vitamin C restores ovarian follicular reservation in a mouse model of aging

• Abdollahifar MA
• Azad N
• Sajadi E
• Shams Mofarahe Z
• Zare F
• Moradi A
• Rezaee F
• Gholamin M
• Abdi S

• KMID: 2451224
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5115/acb.2019.52.2.196

Abstract

Ovarian aging is related to the reduction of oocyte quality and ovarian follicles reservation leading to infertility. Vitamin C is a natural antioxidant which may counteract with adverse effects of aging in the ovary. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possible effect of vitamin C on NMRI mice ovarian aging according to the stereological study. In this experimental study, 36 adult female mice (25-30 g) were divided into two groups: control and vitamin C. Vitamin C (150 mg/kg/day) were administered by oral gavage for 33 weeks. Six animals of each group were sacrificed on week 8, 12, and 33, and right ovary samples were extracted for stereology analysis. Our data showed that the total volume of ovary, cortex, medulla and corpus luteum were significantly increased in vitamin C group in comparison to the control groups (P≤0.05). In addition, the total number of primordial, primary, secondary, and antral follicles as well as granulosa cells were improved in vitamin C group in compared to the control groups (P≤0.05). No significant difference was observed in total volume of oocytes in antral follicles between control and vitamin C groups. Our data showed that vitamin C could notably compensate undesirable effects of ovarian aging in a mouse model.

Keyword

Aging; Follicular reserve; Ovary; Vitamin C

MeSH Terms

Adult
Aging*
Animals
Ascorbic Acid*
Corpus Luteum
Female
Granulosa Cells
Humans
Infertility
Mice*
Oocytes
Ovarian Follicle
Ovary
Vitamins*
Ascorbic Acid
Vitamins

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Estimating the volume of ovary using the Cavalieri method. The point counting method, randomly superimposed probe on the images (H&E staining).

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  Fig. 2 Estimating the number of follicles using the optical dissector method. An unbiased counting frame superimposed on the selected field was used to sample the nucleoli profiles of the oocytes (H&E staining).

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  Fig. 3 Estimating the mean volumes of oocytes by using the nucleator method. For each sampled oocyte, the distance (intercept, ln) in both directions from the point to the boundary of the nucleus and the oocyte borders is recorded and used for volume estimation (H&E staining).

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  Fig. 4 The total volume of ovary, ovary (A), cortex (B), medulla (C), and corpus luteum (D) in the control and vitamin C groups. *Statistically significant difference (P≤0.05) between groups. Data are shown as mean±SD.

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  Fig. 5 Comparisons of the mean volume of oocyte (A) and the total number of granulosa cells between groups (B). Data are shown as mean±SD. (C–H) Photomicrograph of the ovaries stained with H&E (×10). (C, D) Control group and vitamin C group (8 weeks). (E, F) Control group and vitamin C group (12 weeks). (G, H) Control group and vitamin C group (33 weeks).

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  Fig. 6 Comparisons of the total number of primordial (A), primary (B), secondary (C), and antral follicles (D) in the control and vitamin C groups. *Statistically significant difference (P≤0.05) between groups. Data are shown as mean±SD.

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