title: The ovarian response to controlled stimulation in IVF cycles may be predictive of the age at menopause.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Can the number of oocytes retrieved in IVF cycles be predictive of the age at menopause?
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The number of retrieved oocytes can be used as an indirect assessment of the extent of ovarian reserve to provide information on the duration of the reproductive life span in women of different ages.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Menopause is determined by the exhaustion of the ovarian follicular pool. Ovarian reserve is the main factor influencing ovarian response in IVF cycles. As a consequence the response to ovarian stimulation with the administration of gonadotrophins in IVF treatment may be informative about the age at menopause.
  
  
  METHODS
  In the present cross-sectional study, participants were 1585 infertile women from an IVF clinic and 2635 menopausal women from a more general population.
  
  
  METHODS
  For all infertile women, the response to ovarian stimulation with gonadotrophins was recorded. For menopausal women, relevant demographic characteristics were available for the analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A cubic function described the relationship between mean numbers of oocytes and age, with all terms being statistically significant. From the estimated residual distribution of the actual number of oocytes about this mean, a distribution of the age when there would be no oocytes retrieved following ovarian stimulation was derived. This was compared with the distribution of the age at menopause from the menopausal women, showing that menopause occurred about a year later.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The retrieved oocyte data were from infertile women, while the menopausal ages were from a more general population.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the present study, we have shown some similarity between the distributions of the age when no retrieved oocytes can be expected after ovarian stimulation and the age at menopause. For a given age, the lower the ovarian reserve, the lower the number of retrieved oocytes would be and the earlier the age that menopause would occur.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  This work was supported by a grant from the Italian Ministry of Health (GR-2009-1580036). There are no conflicts of interest.
authors.affiliation: Mother-Infant Department, Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41100 Modena, Italy antlamarca@libero.it antonio.lamarca@unimore.it.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: La Marca
authors.affiliation: Mother-Infant Department, Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41100 Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dondi
authors.affiliation: Mother-Infant Department, Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41100 Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sighinolfi
authors.affiliation: Mother-Infant Department, Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41100 Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giulini
authors.affiliation: Centro Natalità, Gynecological-Obstetrics Department, San Raffaele Hospital, Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Papaleo
authors.affiliation: Mother-Infant Department, Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41100 Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cagnacci
authors.affiliation: Mathematical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland 4000, Australia.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Faddy
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008593:Menopause / Q000502:physiology*; D010053:Ovary / Q000187:drug effects*; D010062:Ovulation Induction / Q000379:methods*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests
keywords: menopause prediction; oocytes; ovarian reserve