Hebei Key Laboratory of Reproductive Medicine, Hebei Reproductive Health Hospital, Hebei Institute of Reproductive Health Science and Technology, Xinhua District, No. 480 Heping Road, Shijiazhuang, 050071, China.
Biol Trace Elem Res. 2024 May;202(5):1901-1909. doi: 10.1007/s12011-023-03804-y. Epub 2023 Aug 14.
Female subfertility has been a growing concern for reproductive health. Assisted reproductive technologies make pregnancy possible, but the outcome rate is still suboptimal. Zinc is an essential factor for fertility and development. Zinc levels in follicular fluids were measured by electrochemical method, and we found that zinc in the follicular fluids was related to high-quality embryo rate (R = 0.39, p = 0.01). Basal estradiol levels and estradiol levels on the day of HCG injection were negatively correlated with zinc concentrations in the follicular fluid (R = - 0.53, p < 0.001; R = - 0.32, p < 0.05), and estradiol promoted ZnT 9 protein expression in cumulus granulosa cells in vitro and in vivo. When the zinc level was at 3.63-3.85 μg/mL, follicular fluid samples had the highest SOD activity. Therefore, zinc played an important role in improving oocyte development by increasing antioxidant capacity. Our results suggested that estradiol affected zinc homeostasis in follicles by controlling the expression of ZnT 9, which in turn influenced the potential of oocytes to develop into good-quality embryos. This study to provide tangible improvements to patient outcomes will make it a focus of both scientific and translational efforts in the future.
女性不孕不育问题日益受到关注，是生殖健康领域的一大难题。辅助生殖技术使妊娠成为可能，但妊娠结局率仍不尽如人意。锌是生育和发育的重要因素。我们采用电化学方法测量了卵泡液中的锌含量，发现卵泡液中的锌与优质胚胎率有关（R=0.39，p=0.01）。基础雌二醇水平和人绒毛膜促性腺激素（hCG）注射日雌二醇水平与卵泡液中的锌浓度呈负相关（R=−0.53，p<0.001；R=−0.32，p<0.05），并且雌二醇在体外和体内均可促进卵丘颗粒细胞中 ZnT9 蛋白的表达。当锌浓度在 3.63-3.85μg/mL 时，卵泡液样品的 SOD 活性最高。因此，锌通过增加抗氧化能力来提高卵母细胞的发育能力，从而发挥重要作用。我们的研究结果表明，雌二醇通过控制 ZnT9 的表达来影响卵泡内的锌稳态，进而影响卵母细胞发育成优质胚胎的潜能。这项研究将为患者的治疗效果带来实质性的改善，未来它将成为科学和转化努力的重点。
