Differential expression of egfr-1, mmp-3, and mmp-9 in spontaneous abortions, induced abortions, and tubal pregnancies

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of our study was to assess trophoblastic and uterine sufficiency in miscarriage pathogenesis with immunohistochemical methods and to determine if they could be used as a screening tool for the risk of miscarriage in the future. Material and Method: Placental tissue specimens that were comprised of 20 spontaneous abortions, 23 voluntarily terminated (induced) abortions, and 12 tubal pregnancies were included in this study. Trophoblastic cells and implantation area were evaluated for staining with EGFR-1, MMP-3, and MMP-9 by immunohistochemistry. Results: EGFR-1 expression was more intense and diffuse in decidual cells in the placental bed of spontaneous abortion specimens; this difference was statistically significant (P=0.004). MMP-3 expression was markedly increased in villous and extravillous trophoblastic cells in induced abortions; the difference between the groups was found to be statistically significant (P values ranged from < 0.01 to 0.005). MMP-9 expression tended to be higher in spontaneous abortion and tubal pregnancy specimens, and the results were statistically significant as P values were lower than 0.01. Conclusion: Higher EGFR-1 expression in the decidual tissue of spontaneous abortion specimens suggests that EGFR-1 triggers the migration of extravillous trophoblasts, leading to their destructive invasion. Similarly, MMP-9 immunopositivity might be indicative of aggressive invasion contributing to spontaneous abortion pathogenesis. Relatively high levels of MMP-3 expression in induced abortion specimens used as a control group might be a predictor of successful implantation, whereas its decreased expression might be indicative of risk for pregnancy loss.

Association between idiopathic recurrent pregnancy loss and genetic polymorphisms in cytokine and matrix metalloproteinase genes

“…They have found a significant association between rs35068180 polymorphism of MMP3 gene and the pregnancy loss. The findings of this study are in keeping with the reports of Balci and Özdemir [31].…”

Modulation of matrix metalloproteases by ciliary neurotrophic factor in human placental development

“…MMP-3, MMP-10) and type I and II transmembrane metalloproteinases (Nagase et al 2006 ). In particular, altered MMP-1, -2, -3 and -9 regulation during placentation may lead to placental disease such as pregnancy loss (Balci and Ozdemir 2019 ), preterm delivery (Sundrani et al 2012 ), preeclampsia (PE) (Sahay et al 2018 ) and intra-uterine growth restriction (IUGR) (Swierczewski et al 2012 ). A role for ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) in MMP modulation has been demonstrated in murine neuroblastoma cell models, where CNTF downregulated MMP-2, thus potentially to affecting invasive behaviour (Sartor et al 2002 ).…”

Oxidative Imbalance in Endometriosis-Related Infertility—The Therapeutic Role of Antioxidants

“…In turn, another study noticed that women who had taken resveratrol exhibited lower endometrial TNF-α2 and VEGF concentrations [ 116 ]. Importantly, since all of these above-mentioned molecules were described as factors deteriorating reproductive outcomes [ 118 , 119 , 120 ], resveratrol seems to play an important role in the regulation of eutopic endometrium functioning and help to improve its quality. Another study led by Maia et al found that resveratrol at a dose of 30 mg combined with oral contraceptive pills resulted in decreased COX-2 and aromatase endometrial expressions in comparison to an oral contraceptive pill treatment alone [ 117 ].…”