# Pharmacological effects and mechanisms of medicine food homology species and active ingredients in ameliorating ovarian aging

## TL;DR

This review explores how certain food and medicinal ingredients may help delay ovarian aging through multiple biological mechanisms.

## Contribution

The paper highlights the novel potential of medicine food homology species and their active ingredients in ameliorating ovarian aging via multi-pathway effects.

## Key findings

- MFH species and active ingredients show antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and apoptosis inhibitory effects.
- They influence signaling pathways like PI3K/Akt and Nrf2/HO-1 to maintain ovarian function.
- MFH species offer multi-target therapeutic potential for developing health foods and functional preparations.

## Abstract

Ovarian aging is the process of decline in ovarian reserve, endocrine function with age, leading to reduced fertility and increased risk of various related diseases. In recent years, medicine food homology (MFH) species have attracted much attention for their potential to delay ovarian aging due to their dietary and medicinal values. In this review, we have focused on the intervention of MFH species and active ingredients on ovarian aging, with an emphasis on the molecular mechanisms involved in antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, apoptosis inhibitory, balance of autophagy, maintenance of genome stability, mitochondrial function protective and estrogen-like effects through multiple signaling pathways (e.g., PI3K/Akt, Nrf2/HO-1, SIRT1/mTOR, Nrf2/ARE, etc.). Possessing the characteristics of multi-pathway and multi-target effects, MFH species and active ingredients provide new ideas for the research and development of health food and functional preparations. High-quality clinical studies are still needed for verification.