Received January 03, 2026
Accepted January 16, 2026

Objective: This study aims to elucidate the impact of obesity and weight loss on autophagic processes within ovarian granulosa cells (GCs), given their crucial roles these cells and process play in oogenesis. Methods: Three experimental groups were utilized: a control group (ND group), a high-fat diet-induced obese mouse model (HFD group), and a swimming exercise group (SE group). Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and Western Blot (WB) were applied to detect the protein expression in GCs. Results: LC3B expression was higher in HFD and SE groups than ND (p<0.01), but lower in SE than HFD (p<0.05). p62 expression was lower in HFD and SE than ND (p<0.01 and p<0.05), but higher in SE than HFD (p<0.05). LC3B-II/I ratio was elevated in HFD vs. ND and SE (p<0.05). p62 expression was lower in HFD than SE and ND (p<0.05 and p<0.01), and lower in SE than ND (p<0.01). The HFD group displayed significantly lower p62 expression than the SE group (p<0.05) and the ND (p<0.01). Additionally, p62 expression in SE group also significantly lower than that in ND group(p<0.01) but significantly higher than that in the HFD group (p<0.05). In IHC, p-mTOR/mTOR ratio was lower in HFD vs. ND (p<0.05), but higher in SE vs. ND and HFD (p<0.01). p-AMPK/AMPK ratio was higher in HFD vs. ND (p<0.01), but lower in SE vs. HFD (p<0.01). In WB, p-mTOR/mTOR ratio was lower in HFD and SE vs. ND (p<0.01), but higher in SE vs. HFD (p<0.05). p-RPS6/RPS6 ratio was lower in HFD vs. ND (p<0.01), but higher in SE vs. both groups (p<0.01p<0.01). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that obesity activates granulosa cell autophagy via AMPK/mTOR signaling, while weight loss partially restores homeostasis.