Artificial intelligence-derived retinal age gap as a marker for reproductive aging in women.

Abstract

Reproductive aging impacts women's health through fertility decline, disease susceptibility, and systemic aging. This study explores the retinal age gap-the difference between predicted retinal age and chronological age-as a novel biomarker for reproductive aging. By developing a Swin-Transformer-based dual-channel transfer learning model with data from 1294 healthy women, we examined associations between the retinal age gap and Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH), a key marker of ovarian reserve. Findings revealed a negative association between the retinal age gap and AMH levels, particularly among women aged 40-50. Lower AMH levels correlated with earlier reproductive aging milestones, emphasizing the predictive value of retinal aging. Genetic data from genome-wide association studies further supported these associations and enhanced AMH prediction through multimodal modeling. These findings highlight the retinal age gap as a promising, non-invasive biomarker for reproductive aging and its potential role in disease prediction and personalized health interventions in women.