Laboratory of Medical Genetics in Clinical Practice, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.
Obstetrics and Gynecology, Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro TR1 3LQ, UK.
Genes (Basel). 2023 Jul 23;14(7):1504. doi: 10.3390/genes14071504.
Age-related mitochondrial markers may facilitate the prognosis of artificial reproductive technology outcomes. In this report, we present our study concerning the ratio of cf-mtDNA/cf-nDNA, namely the amount of cell-free mitochondrial DNA relative to cell-free nuclear DNA, in the follicular fluid (FF) of women undergoing IVF, aiming to generate a molecular fingerprint of oocyte quality. The values of this ratio were measured and compared among three groups of women (101 in total): (A) 31 women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), (B) 34 women younger than 36 years, and (C) 36 women older than 35 years of age. Real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) was performed to quantify the ratio by using nuclear- and mitochondrial-specific primers and analyzed for potential correlation with age and pregnancy rate. Our analysis showed that the level of FF-cf-mtDNA was lower in the group of advanced-age women than in the groups of PCOS and non-PCOS women. Moreover, a significant positive correlation between FF-cf-mtDNA and the number of mature (MII) oocytes was observed. Collectively, the data show that the relative ratio of cf- mtDNA to cf-nDNA content in human FF can be an effective predictor for assessing the corresponding oocyte's age-related performance in IVF.
年龄相关的线粒体标志物可能有助于预测辅助生殖技术的结果。在本报告中,我们研究了体外受精(IVF)女性卵泡液(FF)中细胞游离线粒体 DNA 与细胞游离核 DNA 的比值(cf-mtDNA/cf-nDNA),即相对细胞游离核 DNA 的细胞游离线粒体 DNA 含量,旨在生成卵母细胞质量的分子指纹。我们测量并比较了三组女性(共 101 名)的该比值:(A)31 名多囊卵巢综合征(PCOS)患者,(B)34 名年龄小于 36 岁的患者,和(C)36 名年龄大于 35 岁的患者。采用核和线粒体特异性引物进行实时定量 PCR(qPCR)以定量该比值,并分析其与年龄和妊娠率的潜在相关性。我们的分析表明,高龄组女性 FF-cf-mtDNA 水平低于 PCOS 组和非 PCOS 组女性。此外,还观察到 FF-cf-mtDNA 与成熟(MII)卵母细胞数量之间存在显著正相关。总之,这些数据表明,人 FF 中 cf-mtDNA 与 cf-nDNA 含量的相对比值可作为评估相应卵母细胞在 IVF 中年龄相关表现的有效预测指标。