Aberrant endometrial steroid receptor expression in in-vitro maturation cycles despite hormonal luteal support: A pilot study

Carolina Ortega-Hrepich, Panagiotis Drakopoulos, Claire Bourgain, Inge Van Vaerenbergh, Luis Guzman, Herman Tournaye, Johan Smitz, Michel De Vos

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Clinical outcomes of fresh embryo transfer in non-hCG triggered in vitro maturation (IVM) cycles are inferior compared to vitrified-warmed embryo transfer. This is a prospective observational pilot study in a consecutive cohort of 31 polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients and 37 normo-ovulatory egg donors who underwent IVM without fresh embryo transfer between July 2009 and June 2014. All subjects received 150 IU of highly purified menotropin (HP-hMG) daily for three days. On cycle day 6, all patients started transdermal oestradiol (E2) at a daily dose of 9 mg. There was no human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) trigger before oocyte retrieval (OR). Vaginal micronized progesterone was commenced on the evening after OR, at a daily dose of 600 mg. Additional luteal phase support (LPS) was administered as follows: Group A: no additional LPS; Group B: 1500 IU of hCG administered 4 h after OR and Group C: 5000 IU of hCG administered 4 h after OR + an additional injection of 5000 IU of hCG 1 day before endometrial biopsy. Endometrial biopsy for histology and immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed on day 5 or 6 after OR. Instead of being downregulated, both PR-B and ERα in endometrial glands and stroma were moderately to strongly expressed in all three protocols, suggesting that the mid-luteal histological signature of endometrial receptivity is deficient in a non-hCG-triggered IVM cycle. Poor clinical outcomes after fresh embryo transfer following IVM are probably related to inappropriate endometrial development which may be linked to the short follicular phase of IVM cycles.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)210-217
Number of pages8
JournalReproductive biology
Volume19
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2019

Bibliographical note

Copyright © 2019 Society for Biology of Reproduction & the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of Polish Academy of Sciences in Olsztyn. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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