Light micrograph of a section through follicles, which house immature eggs, in an ovary. The immature eggs (orange) are surrounded by fluid-filled cavities (light pink) and granulosa cells (dark pink), which provide them with nutrients and hormonesSTEVE GSCHMEISSNER/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY
Our fertility window could be extended by making the ovaries less stiff. A drug that softens the organ more than doubled the conception rate of older rats with declining fertility and increased their litter size fivefold. It needs to be tested on women, but the results have raised hopes that the intervention could help them conceive at an older age.
Women’s fertility tends to start declining in their mid-thirties. However, in countries like England and Wales, many are choosing to have children later in life. The number and quality of a woman’s immature eggs, one of which matures and is released during ovulation, decline with age. There is also evidence that ovaries become stiffer over time, which may further affect egg development and quality.
To understand what’s driving this, Shixuan Wang at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China, and his colleagues measured the protein levels of the ovaries of women aged 18 to 28, 35 to 42, and 47 to 52. All of the women had a history of gynaecological cancer; however, their ovaries were unaffected when removed.
