Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) affects up to 3% of reproductive-aged women and is a critical yet underrecognized contributor to infertility and systemic accelerated aging. While most cases remain idiopathic, advances in genomics increasingly reveal a genetic basis, implicating pathways that govern DNA repair, meiosis, chromosomal stability, and folliculogenesis. This review synthesizes the multifactorial etiology of POI, integrating genetic contributions with emerging evidence on epigenetic dysregulation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and environmental influences such as toxins and lifestyle factors. These mechanisms converge on core cellular processes, driving premature follicular depletion and shortening reproductive lifespan. We also highlight racial and ethnic disparities in POI prevalence and research representation, alongside the profound psychosocial burden experienced by affected individuals. Addressing these challenges through integrative strategies that unite mechanistic insight with equity is essential, not only for improving POI care but also for advancing precision approaches to ovarian aging and safeguarding reproductive health across the lifespan.
DOI: 10.3390/ijms27031353
Institution: Howard University
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,499
Awards: Advancing aging research through development of minority Gerontologists, G3921839825, The Howard University Expanding Research in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (HU-ERA-PREP), Excellence in Research: Investigation of RECQ1 helicase in DNA transactions upon oxidative stress, G9000300087
OpenAlex ID: W7126110283