Psychosocial Factors in Reproductive Aging

描述(由申请者提供)：本CDA将为应聘者提供制定全面培训计划的机会，使她能够成为一名独立的、跨学科的研究调查员，在女性生殖老龄化领域拥有特定的专业知识，鉴于每年进入更年期的美国女性数量迅速增加，这是一个巨大的公共卫生问题。更年期不仅标志着妇女的生殖状况发生重大变化，更广泛地说，也标志着其健康状况发生重大变化。进入更年期的妇女患几种慢性病的风险增加，这些慢性病造成了严重的发病率和死亡率负担。在这一点上，阐明解释绝经开始时间差异的因素至关重要。新出现的证据表明，心理社会因素，包括较低的社会经济地位(SES)和抑郁史，可能与较早发生的更年期有关。然而，这些因素与绝经开始后的生殖衰老过程的关系尚不清楚。本研究以健康育龄妇女(N=850)为样本，以有腔卵泡计数(AFC)为指标，研究心理社会因素与卵巢老化的关系。具体来说，候选人将利用她在女性健康流行病学、生殖内分泌学和心理神经内分泌学领域的CDA培训经验进行两项研究，这两项研究源于加州大学旧金山分校正在进行的一项研究。研究1旨在(1)研究生命过程(童年、青春期、成年期)中的SES与卵巢衰老的关系，(2)研究SES对卵巢衰老影响的潜在行为/心理调节因素，以及(3)确定不同种族背景的女性SES对卵巢衰老的影响是否存在差异。研究2旨在确定(1)与从未抑郁的女性(N=50)相比，患有重度抑郁症(N=50)的女性是否表现出加速的卵巢衰老；(2)下丘脑-垂体-性腺(HPG)轴对女性生殖系统的调节中断及其与下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴(HPA)的相互作用是否可能解释这种差异。生活自闭症和精神诊断将通过结构化访谈进行评估，心理社会因素通过标准化的自我报告问卷进行评估，AFC通过经阴道超声进行评估，HPG和HPA功能的评估通过唾液测量雌二醇和皮质醇来分别进行。结果将阐明卵巢老化加速的可能的可改变的危险因素，其潜在的更早的绝经。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This CDA will provide the candidate the opportunity to enact a comprehensive training plan that will enable her to become an independent, interdisciplinary research investigator with specific expertise in the area of female reproductive aging, a topic of enormous public health concern in light of the rapidly increasing number of American women entering menopause each year. Menopause marks a time of significant change not only in a woman's reproductive status but also in her health more generally. Women entering menopause are at increased risk for several chronic diseases which account for a significant morbidity and mortality burden. In this regard, elucidating factors that explain variance in the timing of menopause onset is of critical importance. Emerging evidence shows that psychosocial factors, including lower socioeconomic status (SES) and depression history, are related prospectively to earlier onset menopause. The relation of these factors to the reproductive aging process underlying menopause onset, however, is not known. Here, psychosocial factors will be examined in relation to ovarian aging, indexed by antral follicle count (AFC), in a sample of healthy, reproductive age women (N = 850). Specifically, the candidate will utilize her CDA training experiences in the areas of the epidemiology of women's health, reproductive endocrinology, and psycho-neuroendocrinology to conduct 2 studies that stem from an ongoing funded research study at the University of California San Francisco. Study 1 aims (1) to examine SES over the life course (periods of childhood, adolescence, adulthood) in relation to ovarian aging, (2) to examine the potential behavioral/psychosocial mediators of SES effects on ovarian aging, and (3) to determine whether SES effects on ovarian aging differ across women of various ethnic backgrounds. Study 2 aims to determine (1) whether women with Major Depressive Disorder (N = 50) exhibit accelerated ovarian aging compared to never-depressed women (N = 50) and (2) whether disruptions in the regulation of the female reproductive system by the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis and its interaction with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis may explain this difference. Life course SES and psychiatric diagnoses will be assessed by structured interviews, psychosocial factors by standardized self-report questionnaires, AFC by transvaginal ultrasound, and HPG and HPA function by salivary measures of estradiol and cortisol, respectively. Results will elucidate possible modifiable risk factors for accelerated ovarian aging underlying earlier onset menopause.