Figure 7.

Potential mechanism of metformin‐mediated improvement of mouse oocyte apoptosis defects induced by arecoline. The arecoline leads to mitochondrial dysfunction by reducing the mitochondrial membrane potential of oocytes. On the one hand, it will cause a decrease in the production of ATP to reduce the energy supply, leading to the collapse of the oocyte cytoskeleton, which in turn causes aneuploidy, resulting in a deterioration in oocyte quality. On the other hand, a decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential causes the release of cytochrome c, which activates the caspase signalling pathway and ultimately leads to oocyte apoptosis. However, metformin could partially reduce these damages, suggesting that metformin has a protective effect against the apoptosis of oocytes induced by arecoline