He's Yangchao Recipe Ameliorates Ovarian Oxidative Stress of Aging Mice under Consecutive Superovulation Involving JNK- And P53-Related Mechanism

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of He's Yangchao Recipe (HSYC) on ameliorating ovarian oxidative stress of aging mice under consecutive superovulation. METHODS: An 8-month-old C57BL/6 female mouse was chosen to establish an aging model under ovarian hyperstimulation. Mice were randomly separated into four groups: R1 as the control group, R4 as the model group, NR4 with N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) administration, and TR4 with HSYC administration. Oocyte collection, in vitro fertilization, and embryo culture were performed. The serum hormone levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA); the reactive oxygen species (ROS) level of oocytes, the number of growing follicles, corpus luteum, ovulated oocytes, and developing embryos at each stage, along with the proportions of fragmented oocytes and abnormal mitochondria in granulosa cells (GCs) and the apoptosis rate of GCs were calculated; the mRNA and protein levels of JNK, P53, BAX were detected by real-time PCR and the Simple Western System. RESULTS: HSYC enhanced estradiol, progesterone, and inhibin-B levels and increased growing follicle and corpus luteum and ovulated egg counts compared to the R4 group (P < 0.05), whereas it decreased the proportions of fragmented oocytes (P < 0.01); Meanwhile, embryos from mice subjected to four superovulation cycles with HSYC treated had a higher hatching potential. The ROS level of oocytes is downregulated by HSYC (P < 0.01) and the percentage of abnormal mitochondrial in ovaries of the TR4 group was also significantly declined compared to the R4 group (P < 0.05); the most TUNEL-positive cells proportion was detected in the R4 group; nevertheless, HSYC effectively attenuated this detrimental effect (P < 0.05). The mRNA and protein expressions of JNK and P53 in ovary tissues were reduced in the TR4 group while these genes were upregulated by repeated superovulation (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: HSYC exerted promising effects on promoting the diminished ovarian reserve and decreased oocyte quality induced by both aging and consecutive ovarian superovulation, potentially via the ROS/JNK/p53 pathway.