Abstract
PurposeThe ability to accurately estimate a woman’s ovarian reserve by non-invasive means is the goal of ovarian reserve prediction. It is not known whether a correlation exists between model-predicted estimates of ovarian reserve and data generated by direct histological analysis of ovarian tissue. The aim of this study was to compare mean non-growing follicle density values obtained from analysis of ovarian cortical tissue samples against ovarian volume models. MethodsNon-growing follicle density values were obtained from 13 ovarian cortical biopsies (16-37 years). A mean non-growing follicle density was calculated for each patient by counting all follicles in a given volume of biopsied ovarian cortex. These values were compared to age-matched model generated densities (adjusted to take into consideration the proportion of ovary that is cortex) and the correlation between data sets tested.ResultsNon-growing density values obtained from fresh biopsied ovarian cortical samples closely matched model generated data with low mean difference, tight agreement limits and no proportional error between the observed and predicted results.ConclusionThese findings validate the use of the adjusted population and ovarian volume models, to accurately predict mean follicle density in the ovarian cortex of healthy adult women.
Highlights
The human ovary contains a population of non-growing follicles (NGFs)
Generated data with low mean difference, tight agreement limits and no proportional error between the observed and predicted results. These findings validate the use of the adjusted population and ovarian volume models, to accurately predict mean follicle density in the ovarian cortex of healthy adult women
We show that the predictive model provides a good approximation to mean follicle density (MFD) calculated by direct histological examination of ovarian tissue from healthy women free from ovarian pathology and not using hormonal contraception, and that the model can be used as safe and inexpensive proxy for MFDs for ages from midteens to late thirties
Summary
The human ovary contains a population of non-growing follicles (NGFs). Mean follicle density (MFD) is taken to be the average number of NGFs in each cubic millimetre of the cortex of the ovary. This is the standard definition of MFD [4], there are studies that define MFD as NGFs per quarter cubic millimetre [13], NGFs per gram [14], and primary or preantral follicles per cubic millimetre [6]. Cryopreservation techniques have been compared by calculating MFD before and after different freezing methods [6]; the cytotoxicity of drugs has been assessed by comparing MFD before and after in vitro exposure [15]
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