Tan J, Wen X-Y, Su Q, Huang Z-H, He J-X, Xin C-L, Wu Q-F, Zou Y
Reproductive Medicine Center, Jiangxi Provincial Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Nanchang, Jiangxi, China.
Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2016 Dec;20(24):5049-5057.
In humans, stem cell factor (SCF), produced by cumulus granulosa cells during the follicular phase, plays a crucial role in follicular development. Remarkably, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), one of the main reasons affecting women fertility, is accompanied by some abnormal follicles. Is there a relationship between SCF and PCOS? This study aimed to compare the expression of SCF in follicle and serum from patients with and without PCOS undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment and to investigate the potential relationship between aberrant SCF expression and PCOS.
Serum, follicular fluid (FF) samples and granulosa cells (GCs) from 48 patients with PCOS (PCOS group) and 62 normal ovulatory patients (control group) were collected. SCF was evaluated in FF, serum, and GCs by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, immunofluorescence staining, Western blot and real-time PCR. The rates of metaphase II (MII) oocyte, fertilization, embryo cleavage and high-quality embryo between PCOS group and control group were also analyzed.
The rates of MII oocyte and fertilization were significantly lower in PCOS group than those in control group (p < 0.05). No difference was observed for the rate of embryo cleavage and high-quality embryo in these two groups. The concentrations of SCF in serum and FF from PCOS patients were remarkably lower than those in the controls (p < 0.05). Moreover, the expressions of SCF protein and SCF mRNA in GCs from PCOS patients were also decreased compared with the controls (p < 0.05).
PCOS patients showed a reduced SCF expression in serum and follicle, which might be associated with oocyte dysmaturity and low fertilization rate.
在人类中，卵泡期由卵丘颗粒细胞产生的干细胞因子（SCF）在卵泡发育中起关键作用。值得注意的是，影响女性生育能力的主要原因之一多囊卵巢综合征（PCOS）伴有一些异常卵泡。SCF与PCOS之间是否存在关联？本研究旨在比较接受体外受精（IVF）治疗的PCOS患者和非PCOS患者卵泡及血清中SCF的表达，并探讨SCF表达异常与PCOS之间的潜在关系。
收集48例PCOS患者（PCOS组）和62例正常排卵患者（对照组）的血清、卵泡液（FF）样本及颗粒细胞（GCs）。采用酶联免疫吸附测定、免疫荧光染色、蛋白质印迹法和实时聚合酶链反应评估FF、血清和GCs中的SCF。还分析了PCOS组和对照组之间的中期II（MII）卵母细胞率、受精率、胚胎分裂率和优质胚胎率。
PCOS组的MII卵母细胞率和受精率显著低于对照组（p < 0.05）。两组之间的胚胎分裂率和优质胚胎率未观察到差异。PCOS患者血清和FF中SCF的浓度显著低于对照组（p < 0.05）。此外，与对照组相比，PCOS患者GCs中SCF蛋白和SCF mRNA的表达也降低（p < 0.05）。
PCOS患者血清和卵泡中SCF表达降低，这可能与卵母细胞发育不成熟和低受精率有关。
