A researcher from the University of Missouri School of Medicine recently received two grants from the National Institutes of Health that will focus on potential causes of infertility in women.
Joy Winuthayanon's projects will explore two separate mechanisms in the female reproductive tract that may contribute to infertility, according to a news release by the school.
The first project, a $411,539 grant, will focus on the oviduct — also known as the fallopian tube — and how packages of cellular material from the mother reach and help an embryo develop. According to the release, the research will focus specifically on how development is affected if these packages don't make it to the embryo.
The second, a grant of $153,675, will examine how and why the disruption of progesterone inside the oviduct accelerates aging in the reproductive tract. In Winuthayanon's past research, blocking this hormone made it harder to maintain a pregnancy, even if the subjects — the female mice — were of young, reproductive age, according to the release.
While both projects continue her search for answers on infertility, it is also possible that these two mechanisms may not affect fertility at all, according to the release. Winuthayanon says that more knowledge about fertility and the female reproductive system will help inform future treatments.
