Fibroinflammatory Signatures Increase With Age In The Human Ovary And Follicular Fluid

The female reproductive system ages before any other organ system in the body. This phenomenon can have tangible clinical implications leading to infertility, miscarriages, birth defects and systemic deterioration due to estrogen loss. "Fibroinflammation" is a hallmark of aging tissues; there is an increase in inflammatory cytokines and fibrotic tissue in the aging ovarian stroma. We systematically evaluated immunomodulatory factors in human follicular fluid, which, like the stroma, is a critical ovarian microenvironment directly influencing the oocyte. Using a cytokine antibody array, we identified a unique fibroinflammatory cytokine signature in follicular fluid across an aging series of women (27.7-44.8 years). This signature (IL-3, IL-7, IL-15, TGF beta 1, TGF beta 3 and MIP-1) increased with chronologic age, was inversely correlated to anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) levels, and was independent of body mass index (BMI). We focused on one specific protein, TGF beta 3, for further validation. By investigating this cytokine in human cumulus cells and ovarian tissue, we found that the age-dependent increase in TGF beta 3 expression was unique to the ovarian stroma but not other ovarian sub-compartments. This study broadens our understanding of inflammaging in the female reproductive system and provides a defined fibroinflammatory aging signature in follicular fluid and molecular targets in the ovary with potential clinical utility.