Premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) is one of clinical manifestations of ovarian damage. This study is to evaluate biochemical changes of oxidative stress in POI induced by tripterygium glycosides (TG) via subcutaneous injection. 24 female KM mice were assigned to two groups: control group and TG group. The mice in TG group were subjected to 50 mg.kg(-1).d(-1) TG for 35 days, while these in control group were fed with parallel volume of sterile water. Blood samples were separately obtained in day 15, 22, 29, 36 and 43. Ovarian histopathological changes were determined when finished the administration and observed under optical microscope. Serum levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and anti-mullerian hormone (AMH) and ovarian homogenates levels of MDA, SOD, GSH-Px and AMH were assessed by ELISA. AMH expression in the ovaries was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Compared with control group, the results in TG group showed a significant reduction of serum levels of SOD and GSH-Px in day 15, 22, 29, 43 and increase of MDA in day 22, 36. They also presented decreased SOD and GSH-Px levels and increased MDA level in ovarian homogenates. Our data suggested that oxidative stress was involved in POI and might be the potential pathogenesis of POI induced by TG.
Keywords: Premature ovarian insufficiency; glutathione peroxidase; malondialdehyde; oxidative stress; superoxide dismutase; tripterygium glycosides.