Fig. 1

Effect of GH supplementation on ovary aging and the quality of aged oocytes. A Schedule of GH treatment and hormone administration to induce superovulation. B and C Morphological features of ovaries. Ovarian index = (ovary weight/body weight) × 100. D H&E staining of ovarian sections from young, aged, and GH + aged mice. PA, preantral follicle; AF, antral follicle; AT, atretic follicle; CL, corpus luteum. The bottom panel is the enlarged view of the box area in the top panel. Scale bar, 200 μm. E Numbers of follicles at the indicated stages in young (n = 3), aged (n = 3), and GH + aged (n = 3) mice. F Representative images of in vivo matured oocytes from young, aged, and GH + aged mice. Black arrows, oocytes with fragmentation. Scale bar, 80 μm. G Numbers of oocytes after superovulation in young (n = 10), aged (n = 10), and GH + aged (n = 10) mice. H and I Fragmentation and first polar body (PB1) extrusion rates in young (n = 39), aged (n = 35), and GH + aged (n = 42) oocytes. J Representative images of GHR in young, aged, and GH + aged oocytes. Scale bar, 20 μm. K and L Protein and mRNA levels of GHR revealed by immunofluorescence (n = 15) and real-time PCR (n = 25), respectively. M Cumulative number of pups over 12 weeks as a measure of the fertility of young (n = 6), aged (n = 6), and GH + aged (n = 6) mice. N Body weights of newborns (n = 24, 10, and 12 in the young, aged, and GH + aged groups, respectively) over 4 weeks. Data are means ± SEM of at least three independent experiments. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001