Mathematical modelling of decline in follicle pool during female reproductive ageing

The factors which govern the subtle links between follicle loss and mammalian female reproductive ageing remain unclear despite extensive studies undertaken to understand the critical physiological and biochemical mechanisms that underly the accelerated decline in follicle numbers in women older than 37 years. It is not certain whether there is a sole control by the ovary or whether other factors which affect ageing also intersect with the ovarian effect. There is convincing experimental evidence for an interplay of several processes that seem to influence the follicle loss-female reproductive ageing links, with specific hormones (follicle-stimulating hormone, anti-Mullerian hormone, dehydroepiandrosterone) noted to play important roles in follicular dynamics and ovarian ageing. In this work, we examine the subtle links between the rate of follicular decline with ageing and the role of hormones via a series of non-autonomous equations. Simulation results based on the time evolution of the number of ovarian follicles and biochemical changes in the ovarian environment influenced by hormone levels is compared with empirical data based on follicle loss-reproductive ageing correlation studies.