Curcumin Regulating Primordial Follicle Initiation by Restoring the Oxidative-antioxidant Balance.

Background: Diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) is accompanied by abnormal initiation and development of primordial follicles. Reporting that curcumin can protect the ovarian reserve, we used rats as a model to explore the regulatory mechanism of curcumin on primordial follicle priming.

Objective: Curcumin restores the ovarian microenvironment of DOR model rats by AMPK/ SIRT 1 signaling pathway, thus regulating the initiation of primordial follicles.

Methods: The study used the ovaries of 3-day-old female rats, after replicating the DOR model by triptolide (TP), then used curcumin intervention for 3 days. Histomorphological analysis was counted by H & E staining; ELISA test was used to count ovarian hormone [follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) / luteinizing hormone (LH) ratio and estradiol (E2)] concentration in the culture supernatant. Spectrophotometric measurement was used to count of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and the malondialdehyde (MDA). The protein and mRNA expression of the pathway and key indicators for follicle initiation were determined by Western Blot and Q-PCR (AMPK, SIRT 1, PTEN, PGC-1 α, and AMH).

Results: After curcumin treatment, the number of growing follicles increased (P < 0.05). FSH/LH ratio decreased but the content and expression of E2 and AMH increased (P < 0.05). The protein and mRNA expression of characteristic indicators of inhibiting primordial follicle initiation (PTEN) was decreased (P < 0.05). Oxidation-reduction-related SOD activity increased and the content of MDA decreased (P < 0.05), while the protein and mRNA expression of PGC- 1α increased (P < 0.05). The protein and mRNA expression of the pathway (AMPK, SIRT 1) were increased (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Curcumin restored the ovarian local oxidant-antioxidant balance and promoted primordial follicle priming through AMPK/SIRT 1 signaling pathway in the DOR model rats.