Does exercise mitigate advanced maternal age's effects on pregnancy outcomes in a mouse model?

Advanced maternal age mothers are at greater risk of pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia and stillbirth. In humans, exercise benefits the mother and fetus, reducing the risk of developing adverse conditions. I aimed to evaluate the impact of exercise on fetal growth, survival and placental function in a mouse model. I studied three groups of female mice: young, aged, and aged exercise. I collected females at day 11 of gestation and assessed reproductive performance and placental transcriptome. I observed a significant difference in maternal weight at the time of mating, however this reduction in weight of the aged females due to exercise did not improve pregnancy outcomes. Young females had more viable fetuses and fewer resorptions than aged, and aged exercise mothers. Fetuses from advanced maternal age mothers that exercised before and during pregnancy showed reduced fetal weight and size compared with those from young females, whereas fetuses of advanced maternal age mothers that did not exercise did not differ from those of young mothers. I observed no difference in the analysis of the differentially expressed genes, suggesting that the exercise treatment did not mitigate the effects of advanced maternal age.