Expression of progesterone receptors is significantly impaired in the endometrium of infertile women during the implantation window: a prospective observational study

Stamatios Petousis; Yannis Prapas; Chrysoula Margioula-Siarkou; Stefanos Milias; Konstantinos Ravanos; Ioannis Kalogiannidis; Constantinos Haitoglou; Nikolaos Prapas; David Rousso

doi:10.3109/14767058.2016.1152244

Expression of progesterone receptors is significantly impaired in the endometrium of infertile women during the implantation window: a prospective observational study

Petousis S, Prapas Y, Margioula-Siarkou C, Milias S, Ravanos K, Kalogiannidis I, Haitoglou C, Prapas N, Rousso D

Published December 2016 The Journal of Maternal-fetal & Neonatal Medicine : the Official Journal of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine, the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies, the International Society of Perinatal Obstetricians, 29(23), 3912-3919

DOI 10.3109/14767058.2016.1152244 PMID 26940759

Abstract

Objective

To compare the expression of progesterone receptors (A + B) and type-B progesterone receptors in the epithelial and stromal cells of fertile and infertile women.

Methods

Women were divided into two groups, the group of fertile controls (group 1) and the group of infertile women (group 2) and were set on regular ultrasound imaging in order to detect ovulation. An endometrial biopsy was obtained on the seventh or eighth post-ovulatory day. Immunohistochemistry was performed to measure percentage of positive nuclei, intensity of staining and h-score for progesterone receptors (PgR) (A + B) as well as type-B progesterone receptors in epithelial and stromal cells. Secondary outcomes included endometrial tissue dating, the rate of tissues being out-of-phase and endometrial thickness.

Results

Endometrial issue was obtained from 15 fertile and 30 infertile women. Expression of PgR (A + B) and PgR type-B was significantly lower in the epithelial cells of infertile women. PgR (A + B) h-score was 220.0 ± 18.5 for fertile versus 147.3 ± 18.0 for infertile women (p = 0.02). PgR type-B h-score in epithelial cells was 166.8 ± 30.7 for fertile versus 90.8 ± 20.6 for infertile (p = 0.04). No significant difference was observed in stromal cells.

Conclusions

Expression levels of PgR (A + B) as well as type-B receptors are significantly lower in the epithelial cells of infertile women during implantation window.

Topics

Diagnostics › Endometrial Assessment › Receptivity Testing · Reproductive Endocrinology › Ovarian Hormones › Progesterone · Menstrual Cycle › Cycle Biomarkers › Hormonal Markers

Stamatios Petousis, Yannis Prapas, Chrysoula Margioula-Siarkou, Stefanos Milias, Konstantinos Ravanos, Ioannis Kalogiannidis, Constantinos Haitoglou, Nikolaos Prapas, David Rousso

S Petousis, Y Prapas, C Margioula-Siarkou, S Milias, K Ravanos, I Kalogiannidis, C Haitoglou, N Prapas, Dave Rousso, D Rousso

PMID 26940759 26940759 DOI 10.3109/14767058.2016.1152244 10.3109/14767058.2016.1152244 Petousis et al. 2016, Petousis 2016

Keywords

Adult, Case-Control Studies, Embryo Implantation, Endometrium/metabolism, Female, Humans, Infertility, Female/metabolism, Ovulation/metabolism, Prospective Studies, Receptors, Progesterone/metabolism, Ultrasonography, Receptors, Progesterone, Blastocyst, Endometrium, Implantation, Progesterone, Receptor

Expression of progesterone receptors is significantly impaired in the endometrium of infertile women during the implantation window: a prospective observational study

Abstract

Topics

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Keywords