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The maternal age effect: a hypothesis based on oxidative phosphorylation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2006

Martin Wilding ,
Loredana Di Matteo  and
Brian Dale
Martin Wilding
Affiliation:
Centre for Reproductive Biology, Clinica Villa del Sole, Via Manzoni, 15, 80126 Naples, Italy.
Loredana Di Matteo
Affiliation:
Centre for Reproductive Biology, Clinica Villa del Sole, Via Manzoni, 15, 80126 Naples, Italy. Facolta di Medicina e Chirurgia, II Università degli Studi di Napoli, Via Costantinopoli, 16, Naples, Italy.
Brian Dale
Affiliation:
Centre for Reproductive Biology, Clinica Villa del Sole, Via Manzoni, 15, 80126 Naples, Italy.
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Abstract

The ‘maternal age effect’ in human reproduction, characterized by a negative relationship between maternal age and reproductive efficiency, remains a poorly understood phenomenon. Current data suggest that oocyte physiology determines this relationship. In this review, we present a hypothesis of a mitochondrial role in the physiology of ageing in human oocytes. We suggest that the efficiency of oxidative phosphorylation in the ageing human oocyte is degraded by free radical attack on the primordial oocytes residing in the ovary. Although deficiencies in oxidative phosphorylation can be accounted for in the short term by anaerobic respiration, we suggest that, in the long term, the level of oxidative phosphorylation strongly influences oocyte quality.

Keywords

AgeingHuman oocyteHuman reproductionMitochondriaOxidative phosphorylationRespiration
Type
Research Article
Information
Zygote , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , November 2005 , pp. 317 - 323
Copyright
2005 Cambridge University Press

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