ABSTRACT
Introduction
Premature ovarian failure (POF) is one of the important causes of infertility in females. To date, no efficient preventive pharmacological treatment has been offered to prevent POF. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on strategies that provide a normal reproductive lifespan to females at risk of developing POF.
Areas covered
Recently, attention has been drawn to discovering pathways involved in primordial follicle activation, as the inhibition of this process might maintain the stock of primordial follicles and therefore, prevent POF. In vitro and animal studies have resulted in the discovery of several of these pathways that can be used to develop new treatments for POF. These studies show crosstalk of these pathways at different levels. One of the important crossing points of many of these pathways involves anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH). Herein, we discuss different aspects of this topic by reviewing related published articles indexed in PubMed and Web of Science as of December 2021.
Expert opinion
Although the findings seem promising, most of the studies were conducted on animals, and the interaction between these factors and the possible outcomes of their administration in the long term are still unknown. Therefore, further investigation is necessary to assess these aspects.
Article highlights
The ovary, an organ of the female reproductive system, is the place in which the ovarian follicles undergo the necessary development until ovulation
Recruitment of selected primordial follicles from the pool of quiescent follicles is controlled by several different factors
Premature ovarian failure refers to the occurrence of menopause before the average age and is attributable to different etiologies.
Many cross-signaling pathways have a key role in the growth and recruitment of primordial follicles.
Targeting these signaling pathways by inhibiting follicular activation could be implemented in therapy in order to protect female fertility.
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Declaration of interest
The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.
Reviewer disclosures
Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.