The Contribution of the Sheep and the Goat Model to the Study of Ovarian Ageing
Luís Montenegro,
Paulo Magalhães,
Adriana Costa Guerreiro,
Catarina Brandão,
Anabela Pinto,
Henrique Almeida,
Ana Martins-Bessa,
Elisabete Silva
Affiliations
Luís Montenegro
Animal and Veterinary Research Center (CECAV), Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Paulo Magalhães
Unidade de Biologia Experimental, Departamento de Biomedicina, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade do Porto, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
Adriana Costa Guerreiro
Unidade de Biologia Experimental, Departamento de Biomedicina, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade do Porto, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
Catarina Brandão
Unidade de Biologia Experimental, Departamento de Biomedicina, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade do Porto, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
Anabela Pinto
Unidade de Biologia Experimental, Departamento de Biomedicina, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade do Porto, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
Henrique Almeida
Unidade de Biologia Experimental, Departamento de Biomedicina, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade do Porto, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
Ana Martins-Bessa
Animal and Veterinary Research Center (CECAV), Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Elisabete Silva
Unidade de Biologia Experimental, Departamento de Biomedicina, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade do Porto, Alameda Professor Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal
Ovarian ageing stands as the major contributor towards fertility loss. As such, there is an urge for studies addressing the mechanisms that promote ovarian ageing and new strategies aiming to delay it. Recently, the presence of a unique population of multinucleated giant cells has been identified in the ovaries of reproductively aged mice. These cells have been considered hallmarks of ovarian ageing. However, up to date multinucleated giant cells have only been described in the ovaries of the mice. Therefore, the aim of the present work was to evaluate and characterize the presence of such hallmarks of ovarian ageing in the sheep and the goat. In this study, ovaries from juvenile (6 months) and mature animals (18–24 months) were used. The hematoxylin and eosin technique was performed to describe the ovarian morphology and evaluate the ovarian follicle reserve pool. Sudan black B staining and the detection of autofluorescence emission were used to identify and characterize the presence of multinucleated giant cells. Statistical analyses were performed with GraphPad Prism 9.0.0. A decrease in the follicle reserve pool and the presence of multinucleated giant cells, with lipofuscin accumulation and the emission of autofluorescence, were observed in the ovaries of the mature animals of both species. Our results support the interest in the use of the ovine and the caprine model, that share physiological and pathophysiological characteristics with humans, in future studies addressing ovarian ageing.
