Age-related gene expression profiles of immature human oocytes

STUDY QUESTION: What is the difference between the gene expression profiles of single human germinal vesicle (GV) oocytes from women of different ages? SUMMARY ANSWER: There were no statistically significant differences in gene expression profiles of human GV oocytes from women of different ages (range: 25-43). WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY: It is well established that reproductive capacity declines as women age, which is attributed to oocyte quality since this decline is counterbalanced in older women receiving young donor oocytes. Altered gene expression of human oocytes at different stages of development in relation to female age is one of the suggested mechanisms that could explain the decrease in oocyte quality. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION: Between 2012 and 2014, 40 human GV oocytes of 40 women were obtained during follicular aspiration as part of routine ICSI treatment. Gene expression profiles of 38 GV oocytes were determined in four different age groups: 25-30, 31-35, 36-38 and 39-43 years of age. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS: GV oocytes were donated for research and frozen between 3.5 and 7.5 h after follicular aspiration. Subsequently, GV oocytes were thawed and prepared for gene expression profile analysis using Agilent microarrays containing ~42 000 Human Gene Expression probe-sets. Gene expression profiles were visualized by hierarchical clustering and the top 500 most differing genes were determined by multidimensional scaling (MDS). Transcripts were analysed in a class comparison between the four age groups and for indicators of biological age: antral follicle count (AFC) and the total dosage of FSH needed for ovarian stimulation. Individual transcripts were analysed using linear regression. A false discovery rate