The Second Affiliation Hospital of Xi'an Jiao Tong University, Xi'an City, China.
The First Affiliation Hospital of Xi'an Jiao Tong University, Xi'an City, China.
Endocrinology. 2022 Jun 1;163(6). doi: 10.1210/endocr/bqac042.
It is well established that chronic psychological stress (PS) induces female reproductive dysfunction. However, the studies on the consequences of chronic PS exposure precisely targeting ovarian reserve are lacking. In the present study, we employed a chronic scream sound-induced PS model to investigate the potential effect of pure psychosocial stressors on ovary reserve. Female rats were subjected to scream sound stress, white noise, or background for 3 weeks. Animals were euthanized by cervical dislocation after stress for collection of blood or ovaries. Sex hormones were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The follicle number was examined by histopathology. Granulosa cell apoptosis of the ovaries was examined by in situ cell death detection kit. Finally, rats were mated with proven fertile male rats to study fertility parameters. Female rats exposed to scream sound were presented with reduced weight gain and sucrose preference, while immobility time in forced swim test and serum corticosterone concentration were significantly increased. Scream sound stress sequentially decreased plasma anti-Müllerian hormone and estradiol concentration, induced primordial and preantral follicles loss, augmented granulosa cell apoptosis in ovarian growing follicles, and eventually decreased litter sizes. Based on these results, we suggest that chronic PS induced loss of ovarian reserve by accelerated primordial follicle activation and destruction of growing follicles, which results in follicle depletion and decreased fertility.
慢性心理应激（PS）可诱导女性生殖功能障碍，这一点已得到充分证实。然而，针对卵巢储备功能的慢性 PS 暴露后果的研究尚缺乏。在本研究中，我们采用慢性尖叫声音诱导 PS 模型，研究纯粹的心理社会应激源对卵巢储备的潜在影响。雌性大鼠接受尖叫声音应激、白噪声或背景噪声处理 3 周。应激后通过颈椎脱位处死动物，采集血液或卵巢。采用酶联免疫吸附试验分析性激素。通过组织病理学检查卵泡数量。通过原位细胞死亡检测试剂盒检查卵巢颗粒细胞凋亡。最后，让大鼠与经过验证的有生育能力的雄性大鼠交配，研究生育参数。暴露于尖叫声音的雌性大鼠体重增加和蔗糖偏好减少，而强迫游泳试验中的不动时间和血清皮质酮浓度显著增加。尖叫声音应激依次降低了血浆抗苗勒管激素和雌二醇浓度，导致原始卵泡和窦前卵泡丢失，增加了卵巢生长卵泡中的颗粒细胞凋亡，最终降低了产仔数。基于这些结果，我们认为慢性 PS 通过加速原始卵泡的激活和生长卵泡的破坏导致卵巢储备功能丧失，从而导致卵泡耗竭和生育能力降低。
