Open AccessDoes ovarian autoimmunity play a role in the pathophysiology of premature ovarian insufficiency?
Author(s) -
Vrinda Khole
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of mid-life health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.423
H-Index - 11
eISSN - 0976-7819
pISSN - 0976-7800
DOI - 10.4103/0976-7800.66986
Subject(s) - autoimmunity , premature ovarian failure , infertility , unexplained infertility , ovary , pathophysiology , medicine , autoantibody , immunology , premature ovarian insufficiency , etiology , antibody , biology , pregnancy , genetics
Premature Ovarian Failure (POF) is an important cause of amenorrhoea and infertility. However some women may spontaneously ovulate and conceive. Primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) is thus the preferred term. POF / POI is multifactorial in etiology. Autoimmunity is an important mechanism for accelerated destruction of ovarian follicles. The present review focuses on the role of autoimmunity in the pathophysiology of POI. Antibodies to multiple ovarian antigens have been proposed as markers of ovarian autoimmunity. However, there has been lack of clinically proven sensitive and specific serum tests to confirm autoimmune involvement in POI. The review details recently developed specific test for antiovarian antibodies (AOA) that has enabeled identification of different molecular antigenic targets in the ovary. The application of this specific test for AOA has brought to light the need for screening for autoimmunity prior to patients undergoing IVF technique.