Transcriptomic study of the mechanism by which the Kai Yu Zhong Yu recipe improves oocyte quality in a stressed mouse model.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: The Kai Yu Zhong Yu recipe (KYZY) is a classic herbal formula in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that has been used to treat infertility associated with psychological stress for more than three hundred years.

Aim Of The Study: Psychological stress has major impacts on fertility, with variable outcomes depending on the nature, strength, and duration of the stress. Stress can directly disturb ovulation, oocyte quality, maturation, and embryo development.

Reduced growth capacity of preimplantation mouse embryos in chronic unpredictable stress model.

Psychological stress can affect female reproduction by deteriorating oocyte quality, but the molecular mechanism is unclear. In this study, we used the chronic unpredictable stress model to study the effect of psychological stress on mouse oocyte competence during preimplantation stage, and RNA sequencing in single oocytes to analyze differential gene expression at the transcription level. Stress changed the serum levels of glucocorticoids and reduced oocyte developmental potential, depending on the strength of the stress.