Calay News
Females and other mammals are born with a limited number of eggs, and when these are depleted, their reproductive age ends. However, the naked mole rat, a subterranean rodent, is able to reproduce throughout its long life, which has sparked scientists’ interest in understanding this phenomenon. A study published in Nature Communications has found that naked mole rats have an exceptional ability to preserve their ovarian reserve and avoid declining fertility as they age.
Researchers compared the ovaries of naked mole rats and mice at different stages of development and found that mole rats have significantly higher numbers of eggs than mice and that the mortality rates of these cells are lower. For example, at 8 days of age, a naked mole rat has an average of 1.5 million eggs, 95 times more than a mouse of the same age.
The finding has challenged the established dogma that female mammals are endowed with a finite number of eggs before or shortly after birth, with no additions to the ovarian reserve thereafter. The study could have important implications for human health and the development of new drugs to prolong fertility and protect ovarian function in old age.
Although humans live longer, menopause occurs at the same age, but the study suggests that if the processes that allow the naked mole rat to maintain fertility can be understood, new therapies may be developed to treat human infertility. The unique ability of the naked mole rat to maintain fertility as it ages could have significant implications for reproductive medicine and future research in this field.
