ABSTRACT
Repeated implantation failure (RIF) is a common endocrine disease that causes female infertility and the etiology is unknown. The abnormal expression of key proteins and hormones at the maternal-fetal interface affected the maternal-fetal communication and leads to adverse pregnancy outcomes. The expression of anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) and AMH receptor II (AMHRII) was observed in the endometrium. This study aimed to investigate the expression of AMH and AMHRII at the human endometrium, decidual tissue, and blastocyst. Furthermore, the expression of AMH and AMHRII were examined in the RIF patients using immunohistochemistry and quantitative real-time PCR to test the AMHRII expression. The results demonstrated that AMH and AMHRII were present in healthy endometrium and AMHRII was highly expressed in mid-luteal phase. In addition, AMHRII expression was detected throughout the pregnancy and AMHRII's highest expression was in the second trimester. AMHRII was expressed in the blastocysts; however, AMH was not observed. The positive expression rate for AMHRII was significantly higher in the endometrium from RIF. Estrogen receptor (ER), insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1(IGFBP1), and prolactin (PRL) were significantly less expressed in RIF with high expression of AMHRII. The apoptosis was significantly higher in patients with high expression of AMHRII than in patients with normal expression of AMHRII. Our data suggests that AMHRII had an effect on RIF via the AMH and AMHRII signaling pathway. It participated in the development of RIF by interfering with endometrial decidualization and apoptosis.
Subject(s)
Anti-Mullerian Hormone/genetics , Embryo Implantation/genetics , Embryo Transfer/adverse effects , Endometrium/metabolism , Fertilization in Vitro/adverse effects , Genetic Variation , Infertility/therapy , Receptors, Peptide/genetics , Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta/genetics , Adult , Anti-Mullerian Hormone/metabolism , Apoptosis , Blastocyst/metabolism , Blastocyst/pathology , Case-Control Studies , Decidua/metabolism , Decidua/physiopathology , Endometrium/physiopathology , Female , Humans , Infertility/diagnosis , Infertility/physiopathology , Pregnancy , Receptors, Peptide/metabolism , Receptors, Transforming Growth Factor beta/metabolism , Risk Factors , Signal Transduction , Treatment FailureABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To analyze the correlations of seminal plasma (sp) anti-Müllerian hormone (spAMH) and inhibin B (spINHB) and serum INHB (serINHB) with semen parameters in oligoasthenospermia patients and explore their value in predicting the outcome of routine in vitro fertilization (IVF). METHODS: We obtained the levels of spAMH, spINHB and serINHB as well as semen parameters from 88 infertile males undergoing IVF due to oligoasthenospermia or female uterine tubal factors from August 2016 to February 2017. Using the ROC curve and Pearson's correlation analysis, we examined the effects of the obtained parameters on the fertilization rate and assessed the correlation of the levels of spAMH, spINHB and serINHB with the semen parameters of the patients. RESULTS: Concerning the predictive value for the outcome of IVF, Pearson's correlation analysis showed that the area under the ROC curve (AUC) of spAMH was 0.807 (sensitivity = 84.6%, specificity = 76%, cut-off point = 3.529, P <0.001) and that of spINHB was 0.768 (sensitivity = 84.6%, specificity = 88.7%, cut-off point = 31.117, P = 0.002). The serINHB level was found positively correlated with sperm concentration (r = 0.346, P = 0.001), total sperm count (r = 0.378, P <0.001), sperm motility (r = 0.521, P <0.001), and the percentage of progressively motile sperm (r = 0.343, P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The levels of spAMH and spINHB can be used as laboratory indexes to predict the fertilization rate of routine IVF and are correlated with semen parameters in oligoasthenospermia patients, while that of serINHB has a positive correlation with the semen parameters of the patients.
