Research Paper Advance Articles

Figure 1. Schematic of caloric restriction paradigm. Animals were exposed to a moderate caloric restriction for up to 3 years. Animals in the young cohort were aged 7–10 years at the start of the study and age 10–13 years at necropsy. Animals in the old cohort were aged 16–23 years at the start of the study and age 19–26 years at necropsy. Animals’ menstrual cyclicity was assessed using hormonal assays and observation of menses. Animals were classified as having regular cycles, irregular cycles, or non-cycling. All animals in the young cohort had regular cycles, while animals in the old cohort had regular cycles, irregular cycles, or were non-cycling. Following necropsy, ovarian tissue was harvested and prepared for downstream analyses of ovarian follicle number, follicular dynamics, and extracellular matrix composition. The timeline at the top of the image describes reproductive milestones in the rhesus macaque life cycle. Brackets beneath the timeline indicate the start and end of the study period for the two age cohorts.