Columbia University is launching a new study to determine if a common cancer drug can help slow down ageing in ovaries and delay menopause.
The study, called Validating Benefits of Rapamycin for Reproductive Ageing Treatment (Vibrant), will recruit volunteers to take low doses of the drug rapamycin – also a common immunosuppressant used by organ transplant patients.
Women are born with all the eggs they’re ever going to have – there’s no way of producing any more. Every cycle around 1,000 eggs begin the journey to ovulation, but only one (or occasionally two or more) will emerge from the ovary – the rest will die.
Rapamycin targets an enzyme called mTOR, which plays a role in ovulation. It is hoped the drug will be able to slow down the process, resulting in fewer eggs lost every month, delaying menopause.
Speaking to Insider, trial co-leader Yousin Suh said: ‘There’s data showing that in fact, menopause accelerates aging. [Ovaries control] much more than fertility or reproduction. They influence overall health really.’
Rapamycin’s ability to reduce ageing in general is due to its effect on cells, ‘tricking’ them into going into starvation mode. This prompts them to scavenge for the dysfunctional organelles and molecules that normally ‘clog up’ tissues, contributing to ageing.
‘There’s no controversy that rapamycin extends health and lifespan in all animal models that we have tested thus far,’ said Suh.
This means, if the Vibrant trial is successful, it could have wide-ranging implications for people of all genders.
Ovaries - how do they work?
Ovaries are a part of the female reproductive system. There are two, one on either side of the uterus, linked by the fallopian tubes. They contain the ova – or eggs – that may one day go on to form an embryo.
Women are born with all the eggs they’ll ever have – between one and two million.
On reaching puberty, the ovaries start releasing eggs during the menstrual cycle, which can last between 23 and 35 days. While only one egg is released, the release of follicle-stimulating hormone by the pituitary gland stimulates around 1,000 ovarian follicles (eggs) into maturing. Those that are not released will die.
A surge of luteinising hormone causes the ovary to release the egg it has been preparing – ovulation – and the egg passes through the ovarian wall and down the fallopian tube, where it will either be fertilised and embed into the uterine lining, resulting in pregnancy, or passed during menstruation.
Suh and her team, lead in tandem with Dr Zev Williams, are looking to recruit 50 women between the ages of 38 and 45 for the randomised, placebo-controlled pilot study. Only those unable to conceive naturally and awaiting an egg donor will be considered.
‘They have normal menstruation, but they have signs of early menopause,’ said Suh.
The World Health Organisation estimates that roughly one in six people struggle with infertility at some point, as Suh did. Now a mother, she struggled with several pregnancies when she was younger.
‘Virtually nothing is known about what’s happening in ovaries,’ she said. ‘There’s no help. So I want to say to people like me that help is on the way.’
MORE : I took a fertility test to see how much time I had – I found out it was now or never
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