Dehydroepiandrosterone as a potential agent to slow down ovarian aging

Aim Ovarian aging, which leads to diminished ovarian reserve and decreased oocyte quality, is highly associated with poor reproductive outcomes. It has been suggested that dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) might be able to temporarily slow down the aging process. This study attempted to investigate the clinical benefits of DHEA in older patients and the anti‐senescence effect of DHEA on cumulus cells (CC) and human ovarian granulosa cells (HO23 cell line). Methods This prospective study enrolled 88 patients who underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF), including 30 younger patients (aged ≤ 37 years) and 58 older patients (aged > 37 years). Older patients were assigned to receive DHEA treatment or not prior to the IVF cycle. CC were obtained from all patients after oocyte retrieval and the HO23 granulosa cell line was used for in vitro studies. Senescence‐associated β‐galactosidase (SA‐β‐gal) was used as a biomarker of senescence. Results In older patients, following DHEA supplementation, a greater number of transferred embryos and a higher fertilization rate were observed compared with those in patients without DHEA supplementation. However, the clinical pregnancy rate was not significantly increased following DHEA supplementation. Additionally, treatment with DHEA resulted in significantly reduced SA‐β‐gal staining in both CC and HO23 cells. Conclusion DHEA supplementation ameliorated IVF outcomes but without a consequence on pregnancy rate in older patients and decreased SA‐β‐gal activity in CC and HO23 cells, suggesting that DHEA might be used as a possible intervention to slow down ovarian aging.