作者
Emily J Zaniker, Man Zhang, Lydia Hughes, Lizellen La Follette, Tomiris Atazhanova, Alexis Trofimchuk, Elnur Babayev, Francesca E Duncan
发表日期
2024/6
期刊
Biology of Reproduction
卷号
110
期号
6
页码范围
1100-1114
出版商
Oxford University Press
简介
The ovary is one of the first organs to show overt signs of aging in the human body, and ovarian aging is associated with a loss of gamete quality and quantity. The age-dependent decline in ovarian function contributes to infertility and an altered endocrine milieu, which has ramifications for overall health. The aging ovarian microenvironment becomes fibro-inflammatory and stiff with age, and this has implications for ovarian physiology and pathology, including follicle growth, gamete quality, ovulation dynamics, and ovarian cancer. Thus, developing a non-invasive tool to measure and monitor the stiffness of the human ovary would represent a major advance for female reproductive health and longevity. Shear wave elastography is a quantitative ultrasound imaging method for evaluation of soft tissue stiffness. Shear wave elastography has been used clinically in assessment of liver fibrosis and characterization …