Endometrial Pinopode and αv 3 Integrin Expression Is Not Impaired in Infertile Patients with Endometriosis

Abstract

Purpose : To investigate endometrial receptivity in terms of pinopode formation and αvβ3 integrin expression in infertile women with endometriosis during natural cycles. Methods : We investigated the expression of αvβ3 integrin and pinopode formation in the endometrium of 12 infertile patients with stage I or II endometriosis as the only cause of infertility, 12 infertile patients having unexplained infertility, and 12 fertile women who were undergoing tubal sterilization. Two endometrial biopsies (postovulatory day +7 to +8 and 4 days later) were performed during a single menstrual cycle in each subject. Results : No statistically significant difference regarding αvβ3 integrin expression and pinopode formation was found between infertile patients with endometriosis and the two control groups. Conclusion : αvβ3 integrin expression and pinopode formation are not reduced during the window of implantation in patients with stage I-II endometriosis. Whether these results imply normal endometrial receptivity in such patients or add to the increasing uncertainty about the clinical value of assessing the endometrium with those markers of implantation, warrants further studies.

Expression of PGR, HBEGF, ITGAV, ITGB3 and SPP1 genes in eutopic endometrium of infertile women with endometriosis during the implantation window: a pilot study

“…Regarding αvβ3 integrin, the findings corroborate the data of the only two studies that evaluated its levels in the eutopic endometrium of infertile patients with endometriosis I/II by immunohistochemistry and did not identify differences when compared to infertile and fertile controls (Ordi et al, 2003;Casals et al, 2012). Nevertheless, in both studies, the infertile control group consisted of patients with unexplained infertility, which could represent a sampling bias, since we cannot exclude a possible endometrial factor in these cases.…”

“…Nevertheless, in both studies, the infertile control group consisted of patients with unexplained infertility, which could represent a sampling bias, since we cannot exclude a possible endometrial factor in these cases. Added to this, the testing power of the Ordi et al (2003) study was low, while Casals et al (2012) did not report this data, making it impossible to draw consistent conclusions about the role of this integrin in the disease-related infertility. To date, there are no studies evaluating HBEGF expression in infertile women with endometriosis, once it is the first study to rule out differences in this gene among the studied groups.…”

“…In this context, the literature presents conflicting studies evaluating progesterone receptors (Attia et al, 2000;Igarashi et al, 2005;Shen et al, 2015), αvβ3 integrin (Ordi et al, 2003;Wei et al, 2009;Casals et al, 2012) and osteopontin (Burney et al, 2007;Cho et al, 2009;Wei et al, 2009;Casals et al, 2012) in the eutopic endometrium of women with endometriosis, especially with respect to disease-associated infertility. Moreover, to date, there is no study evaluating the expression of HB-EGF in these patients and no previous study simultaneously evaluated the expression of these five genes in infertile patients with endometriosis.…”

Effects of galectin-3 inhibition on endometrial cell cycle and adhesion

“…It is during the 20-24 days of the menstrual cycle that can accept the embryo [27]. Existing research found that many elements were involved in the regulation of endometrial receptivity such as integrin anb3 [28], a1b1 [29], leukemia inhibiting factor (LIF) [30], leptin [31], placental protein14 (PP14) [32], etc. These factors play important roles in the formation process of endometrial receptivity, but still it is unable to fully reveal molecular bp (c) mechanisms.…”

The incidence of aberrant endometrial αvβ3 vitronectin expression in a high risk infertility population: could prolonged GnRH agonist therapy play a role?

“…These same investigators demonstrated absent integrin expression in 44% of endometriosis patients [7]. This finding, however, has not been consistently demonstrated [8,9].…”