Evidence for a maximum “shelf-life” of oocytes in mammals suggests that human menopause may be an implication of meiotic arrest

Abstract There is an ongoing debate why a trait like human menopause should have evolved. Adaptive explanations explain menopause with fitness benefits of ceasing reproduction, whereas non-adaptive explanations view it as an epiphenomenon. Here we present data in support of non-adaptive explanations...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Susanne Huber, Martin Fieder
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Nature Portfolio 2018
Materias:
R
Q
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/b3559e1fdf9c4f28a63ade279b397f35
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
id oai:doaj.org-article:b3559e1fdf9c4f28a63ade279b397f35
record_format dspace
spelling oai:doaj.org-article:b3559e1fdf9c4f28a63ade279b397f352021-12-02T15:08:11ZEvidence for a maximum “shelf-life” of oocytes in mammals suggests that human menopause may be an implication of meiotic arrest10.1038/s41598-018-32502-22045-2322https://doaj.org/article/b3559e1fdf9c4f28a63ade279b397f352018-09-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-32502-2https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract There is an ongoing debate why a trait like human menopause should have evolved. Adaptive explanations explain menopause with fitness benefits of ceasing reproduction, whereas non-adaptive explanations view it as an epiphenomenon. Here we present data in support of non-adaptive explanations of menopause suggesting a maximum shelf-life of oocytes. By analyzing the association between lifespan and age at reproductive senescence across 49 mammal species, we find that the positive association levels off in long lived species, indicating that the age at reproductive senescence has an upper limit. Only in baleen whales there seems to be no evidence for reproductive senescence. We suggest that apart from the baleen whales, the confinement of reproductive senescence in long-lived species may be the result of physiological constraints imposed by the long period of time oocytes remain inactive in an arrested phase of meiosis from their production in utero until ovulation. We therefore conclude that menopause may be an implication of the long duration of meiotic arrest caused by semelgametogenesis together with long lifespan.Susanne HuberMartin FiederNature PortfolioarticleMeiotic ArrestHuman Meno PausalMaximum Shelf-lifeBaleen WhalesTime OocytesMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 8, Iss 1, Pp 1-5 (2018)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Meiotic Arrest
Human Meno Pausal
Maximum Shelf-life
Baleen Whales
Time Oocytes
Medicine
R
Science
Q
spellingShingle Meiotic Arrest
Human Meno Pausal
Maximum Shelf-life
Baleen Whales
Time Oocytes
Medicine
R
Science
Q
Susanne Huber
Martin Fieder
Evidence for a maximum “shelf-life” of oocytes in mammals suggests that human menopause may be an implication of meiotic arrest
description Abstract There is an ongoing debate why a trait like human menopause should have evolved. Adaptive explanations explain menopause with fitness benefits of ceasing reproduction, whereas non-adaptive explanations view it as an epiphenomenon. Here we present data in support of non-adaptive explanations of menopause suggesting a maximum shelf-life of oocytes. By analyzing the association between lifespan and age at reproductive senescence across 49 mammal species, we find that the positive association levels off in long lived species, indicating that the age at reproductive senescence has an upper limit. Only in baleen whales there seems to be no evidence for reproductive senescence. We suggest that apart from the baleen whales, the confinement of reproductive senescence in long-lived species may be the result of physiological constraints imposed by the long period of time oocytes remain inactive in an arrested phase of meiosis from their production in utero until ovulation. We therefore conclude that menopause may be an implication of the long duration of meiotic arrest caused by semelgametogenesis together with long lifespan.
format article
author Susanne Huber
Martin Fieder
author_facet Susanne Huber
Martin Fieder
author_sort Susanne Huber
title Evidence for a maximum “shelf-life” of oocytes in mammals suggests that human menopause may be an implication of meiotic arrest
title_short Evidence for a maximum “shelf-life” of oocytes in mammals suggests that human menopause may be an implication of meiotic arrest
title_full Evidence for a maximum “shelf-life” of oocytes in mammals suggests that human menopause may be an implication of meiotic arrest
title_fullStr Evidence for a maximum “shelf-life” of oocytes in mammals suggests that human menopause may be an implication of meiotic arrest
title_full_unstemmed Evidence for a maximum “shelf-life” of oocytes in mammals suggests that human menopause may be an implication of meiotic arrest
title_sort evidence for a maximum “shelf-life” of oocytes in mammals suggests that human menopause may be an implication of meiotic arrest
publisher Nature Portfolio
publishDate 2018
url https://doaj.org/article/b3559e1fdf9c4f28a63ade279b397f35
work_keys_str_mv AT susannehuber evidenceforamaximumshelflifeofoocytesinmammalssuggeststhathumanmenopausemaybeanimplicationofmeioticarrest
AT martinfieder evidenceforamaximumshelflifeofoocytesinmammalssuggeststhathumanmenopausemaybeanimplicationofmeioticarrest
_version_ 1718388274626560000