Effect of miR-451 on IVF/ICSI-ET outcome in patient with endometriosis and infertility.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the effect of miR-451 on IVF/ICSI-ET outcome in endometriosis patients with infertility. METHODS: Eighty patients with endometriosis and infertility who came to our hospital for IVF/ICSI-ET from February 2018 to November 2019 were collected as the research participants, and 66 healthy women at the same time were selected as the control group. The miR-451 and MIF expression levels in serum, tissues and cell lines of patients with endometriosis and infertility were quantitatively detected by qRT-PCR. Correlation between miR-451 and endometriosis complicated with infertility was analyzed. The effect of miR-451 on IVF/ICSI-ET outcome in those patients was assessed. RESULTS: The miR-451 and MIF expression levels in endometriosis complicated with infertility tissues and cell lines were quantitatively detected by qRT-PCR. Compared with normal people, miR-451 was abnormally low in endometriosis complicated with infertility tissues and cell lines (P<0.001), while MIF was abnormally high (P<0.001), and the miR-451 expression was dramatically down-regulated and the MIF expression was markedly up-regulated in serum of endometriosis patients complicated with infertility. ROC analysis identified that the area under the miR-451 curve (AUC=0.9078) was >0.8, and the AUC (0.8606) of MIF was >0.8. Correlation analysis showed that the expression of miR-451 and MIF was negatively correlated in endometriosis complicated with infertility. According to miR-451 expression in endometriotic lesions, the subjects were divided into the miR-451 high expression group and miR-451 low expression group, with 40 cases in each group. The pregnancy rate after IVF/ICSI-ET in patients with endometriosis and infertility with high expression of miR-451 was higher than that in those with low expression (P>0.05). The incidence of complications during pregnancy after IVF/ICSI-ET in patients with endometriosis and infertility with high expression of miR-451 was lower than that in those with low expression (P>0.05). The pregnancy outcome after IVF/ICSI-ET in the miR-451 high expression group was better than that in the miR-451 low expression group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: miR-451 was down-regulated in endometriosis patients complicated with infertility, and low expression of miR-451 after IVF/ICSI-ET indicated a poor outcome.

Clinical significance of combined detection of anti-Mullerian hormone and follicular output rate in women of late reproductive age.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to explore the clinical significance of anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) combined with follicular output rate (FORT) in women of late reproductive age. METHODS: A total of 258 women (age range: 35-45 years old) who underwent pre-pregnancy examination in our hospital were collected as the research group (RG), among whom 184 were treated with in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET). Concurrently, 126 women aged 24-30 years who came to our hospital for pre-pregnancy examination were enrolled as the control group (CG). AMH and FORT were detected and compared between the two groups to analyze the clinical significance of the two in women of late reproductive age. RESULTS: Compared with the CG, AMH was decreased statistically in the RG (P<0.05). AMH was statistically higher in the regular menstrual group than in the menstrual disorder group (P<0.05), and FORT was statistically higher in the pregnancy group in comparison with the non-pregnancy group (P<0.05). AMH decreased with age (P<0.05), while FORT did not correlate with any notable difference among the three subgroups (P>0.05). High, medium and low AMH groups showed no significant difference in the number of retrieved oocytes and transplantable embryos, as well as FORT (P<0.05). A lower AMH level, was correlated with fewer number of retrieved oocytes and transplantable embryos, and higher the FORT level. Significant differences were present among the high, middle and low FORT groups regarding the number of retrieved oocytes and transplantable embryos, the clinical pregnancy rate and AMH level (P<0.05). The lower the level of FORT was, the less the number of retrieved oocytes and transplantable embryos was, the lower clinical pregnancy rate was, and the higher the AMH level was. CONCLUSIONS: AMH decreases gradually in women with an increase of age, and FORT can effectively predict pregnancy outcome. AMH detection combined FORT is of great significance in predicting the ovarian reserve function in women of late reproductive age.

FOXD3­AS1/miR­128­3p/LIMK1 axis regulates cervical cancer progression.

Long non­coding RNA forkhead box D3 antisense RNA 1 (FOXD3­AS1) functions as an oncogenic regulator in several types of cancer, including breast cancer, glioma and cervical cancer. However, the effects and mechanisms underlying FOXD3­AS1 in cervical cancer (CC) are not completely understood. The present study aimed to investigate the biological functions and potential molecular mechanisms underlying FOXD3­AS1 in CC progression. Reverse transcription­quantitative PCR was performed to detect FOXD3­AS1, microRNA (miR)­128­3p and LIM domain kinase 1 (LIMK1) expression levels in CC tissues and cells. Immunohistochemical staining and western blotting were conducted to assess LIMK1 protein expression levels in CC tissues and cells, respectively. Cell Counting Kit­8 and BrdU assays were used to determine the role of FOXD3­AS1 in regulating cell proliferation. CC cell migration and invasion were assessed by performing Transwell assays. Dual­luciferase reporter assays were conducted to verify the binding between miR­128­3p and FOXD3­AS1. FOXD3­AS1 expression was significantly increased in CC tissues and cell lines compared with adjacent healthy tissues and normal cervical epithelial cells, respectively. High FOXD3­AS1 expression was significantly associated with poor differentiation of tumor tissues, increased tumor size and positive lymph node metastasis. FOXD3­AS1 overexpression significantly increased CC cell proliferation, migration and invasion compared with the negative control (NC) group, whereas FOXD3­AS1 knockdown resulted in the opposite effects compared with the small interfering RNA­NC group. Moreover, the results demonstrated that FOXD3­AS1 targeted and negatively regulated miR­128­3p, which indirectly upregulated LIMK1 expression. Therefore, the present study demonstrated that FOXD3­AS1 upregulated LIMK1 expression via competitively sponging miR­128­3p in CC cells, promoting CC progression.