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Endometrial expression of receptivity markers subject to ovulation induction agents

  • Gynecologic Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

Implantation rates differ according to ovulation induction agents in ART. This study investigates the different local endometrial effects of LH- versus hCG-induced ovulation.

Methods

Endometrial stromal cells from healthy patients were cultured with hCG or LH in different concentrations, supplemented with 250 ng/mL hCG and progesterone after 2 and 5 days. In addition after decidualization induction, cells were treated with hCG (50 or 250 ng/mL) or LH (10 or 50 ng/mL) for 3 days. Receptivity markers expression was evaluated by real-time quantitative PCR on day 3 and 6.

Results

On day 3, non-decidualized cells treated with LH showed an increased expression of IGFBP1, IL-8 and CXCL12 compared to hCG. The expression pattern changed on day 6, where cells treated with hCG showed higher expression of implantation markers compared to LH-treated cells. Furthermore, on day 3, decidualized cells treated with hCG250 showed an increased IL8 and CXCL12 expression compared to LH10.

Conclusions

LH seems to modulate the local endometrial expression of receptivity markers earlier compared to hCG; however, the effect is not sustained over time in cells without prior decidualization. Though, in decidualized cells, pattern changed and an earlier positive effect of hCG was shown on IL-8 and CXCL12.

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Abbreviations

IGFBP1:

Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1

IL8:

Interleukin 8

CXCL1:

CXC-Motif-Chemokin ligand 1

CXCL12:

CXC-Motif-Chemokin ligand 12, also stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1) or pre-B cell growth-stimulating factor (PBSF)

LH:

Luteinizing hormone

hCG:

Human chorionic gonadotropin

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge financial support by Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg for open-access publishing.

Funding

This research was funded by Dres. Majic/Majic-Schlez-Stiftung, University of Heidelberg.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gynaecological Endocrinology and Fertility Disorders, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    Alexander Freis, Ariane Germeyer, Julia Jauckus, Edison Capp, Thomas Strowitzki & Amanda Machado Weber

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medicine School, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Edison Capp

  3. Central Laboratory, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

    Markus Zorn

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  1. Alexander Freis
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  2. Ariane Germeyer
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Contributions

Conceptualization, AF, AG, AMW; and JJ; methodology, AF, AG, JJ, AMW; formal analysis, AF, AG, EC, AMW; investigation, JJ, AMW, MZ, AF; resources, AG, AF, TS; data curation, JJ, AMW; writing—original draft preparation, AF, AMW; writing—review and editing, AF, AG, AMW, EC; visualization, AF, AMW; supervision, AG; project administration, AG; funding acquisition, AG, AF.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amanda Machado Weber.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest regarding this paper.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. All patients provided written consent for the use of their tissue samples. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Ruprecht Karls University Heidelberg (S239/2005).

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Freis, A., Germeyer, A., Jauckus, J. et al. Endometrial expression of receptivity markers subject to ovulation induction agents. Arch Gynecol Obstet 300, 1741–1750 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-019-05346-y

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