Objective: To test our hypothesis that reproductive aging changes the ovarian oxidative stress defense profile, in response to prostaglandin F2alpha (PGF2alpha) during corpus luteum regression, because how a cell or an organ handles reactive oxygen intermediates may be dependent on the biological age of the organism.
Design: Animal experimentation using rat model of corpus luteum regression.
Setting: University reproductive biology laboratory.
Animal(s): Control (26-day-old) and 8- to 9-month-old (reproductive aging) rats.
Intervention(s): Corpus luteum formation was induced in control and 8- to 9-month-old (reproductive aging) rats with pregnant mare serum gonadotropin followed by human chorionic gonadotropin. Regression was then initiated with PGF2alpha.
Main outcome measure(s): Vitamin E, glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase, catalase, and thiobarbituric acid-reacting substances were measured.
Result(s): Ovaries from reproductive aging rats, compared with the control (26-day-old) group, had elevated vitamin E levels at 0, 2, and 24 hours after PGF2alpha. At 2 and 24 hours after PGF2alpha, the aging ovaries had lower glutathione reductase levels.
Conclusion(s): These data suggest that the reproductive aging ovary has a transformed oxidative stress defense profile and that this may account for some of the physiological changes found in reproductive aging.