New research reveals what happens to ovaries post-menopause

We tend to think of menopause as the moment a woman's ovaries retire as they stop releasing eggs. This results in the reduction of their production of hormones like oestrogen as their reproductive job is essentially finished. 

However, new research published in the scientific journal Aging Cell, challenges the idea that our ovaries become largely inactive once their reproductive role ends. 

Researchers examined ovarian tissue donated by 28 post-menopausal women to try and understand if tissue from a 55-year-old woman look biologically similar to tissue from a 75-year-old woman? 

The researchers used mass spectrometry to measure 5,812 groups of proteins across the ovarian samples they discovered significant differences. 

In women in their 50s, the ovaries contained relatively higher amounts of proteins involved in regulating genetic information, maintaining cell structure and supporting normal cellular processes. 

In women aged 70 and older, there was a shift towards proteins associated with immune responses, inflammation, fat metabolism and the restructuring of tissue. 

Instead of maintaining the same molecular profile throughout the decades after menopause, the ovarian tissue was undergoing a process of remodelling. 

The team then selected proteins and examined them using immunohistochemistry. 

One protein, WNT4, which helps cells communicate and is involved in tissue development and organisation became more abundant with age, particularly in the connective tissue and blood vessels of the older ovaries.  

Another protein, called fibromodulin, which helps organise collagen, one of the main structural components holding our tissues together showed the opposite trend. 

Together, these findings supported the idea that postmenopausal ovaries structure and molecular composition continue to evolve. 

One of the biggest questions raised by this research is whether postmenopausal ovaries are communicating with other organs. 

The hormones they produce influence bone strength, cardiovascular health, metabolism and aspects of brain function. 

And while ovarian hormone production changes dramatically after menopause, the ovaries do not necessarily stop producing all hormones. They can continue producing some androgens, which are hormones that can be converted into oestrogens elsewhere in the body. 

For decades, much of our understanding of the ovary has focused on fertility. 

We study how eggs develop, how hormones regulate the menstrual cycle and what happens when a woman reaches menopause. 

But women can now expect to live for several decades after their reproductive years end. 

That means understanding what happens to reproductive organs during those later decades is an important part of understanding women's health. 

Menopause may mark the end of the ovaries' reproductive role, but it certainly doesn't mean the end of their biological story. 

LISTEN ABOVE