Ovaries Keep Changing for Decades After Menopause, Northwestern-Buck Study Finds

The work is an observational laboratory study of human tissue. Researchers at Northwestern University and the Buck Institute for Research on Aging analyzed healthy, non-pathological ovaries from 28 postmenopausal women aged 50 to 75. Each ovary was measured once, so the study compares different women at different ages. It does not follow the same women over time.

The team used mass spectrometry, a method that identifies and measures proteins in a tissue sample. They quantified 5,812 protein groups. The women were split into three age groups: 50–59, 60–69 and 70 and older.

Protein levels moved progressively with age. In all, 117 proteins differed significantly between the oldest group and the youngest. According to the study, the pattern in women in their 50s pointed to RNA and gene-regulation functions. In women 70 and older, it pointed to metabolic, trafficking, and innate immune and complement pathways. The complement system is part of the body's immune defenses.

Using several statistical approaches, the authors identified a set of 26 proteins that tracked with age consistently. They named it the Buck Postmenopausal Ovary Molecular Signature, or BuckPOMS. The study says it captures steady remodeling of the extracellular matrix, the scaffolding around cells. It also captures more inflammatory signaling and a loss of structural and keratin-associated proteins.

Two of these proteins, WNT4 and fibromodulin, were checked directly in tissue sections by immunohistochemistry, a staining technique. The study also reports higher levels of inflammatory and matrisome pathways, and more damageassociated secreted factors, decades after menopause. The matrisome is the collection of proteins that make up that surrounding scaffold.

The authors conclude that the postmenopausal ovary is not inert. They describe active, continuous molecular remodeling with potential relevance to tissue signaling and women's health.

For you

What does this mean for personal health? The study shows that the tissue changes. It does not show what those changes do. It did not measure bone, brain or other organs, and it did not track health outcomes. Whether the ovary's changes affect whole-body aging remains an open question.

The same limit applies to surgery decisions. The study did not test removing ovaries, and it does not say whether healthy ovaries should stay or go. According to Northwestern's news release, the findings raise new questions about whether otherwise healthy ovaries should one day be removed. That goes further than the data. Anyone weighing this choice should rely on their own doctor and current guidelines.

The release also describes a link to ovarian cancer. This detail comes from the press coverage of the study. The release says the tissue was cancerfree, and that some proteins previously associated with ovarian cancer were more abundant in older ovaries, most strongly in women in their 60s. It adds that this does not mean the ovaries were cancerous or precancerous.

Francesca Duncan, a co-corresponding author, told Northwestern: "Is the ovary the canary in the coal mine in women?" She also said it is not yet known whether the changes are beneficial or harmful as women age.

The sample is small, and each woman was sampled once. The findings show associations between age and protein levels, not cause and effect. The next step is research that follows these changes over time and tests whether they affect health elsewhere in the body.

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