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. 2018 Jun 21;16(1):60.
doi: 10.1186/s12958-018-0379-1.

Decreased MUC1 in endometrium is an independent receptivity marker in recurrent implantation failure during implantation window

Fangrong Wu  1 , Xiaoyan Chen  1 , Yingyu Liu  1 , Bo Liang  1 , Hui Xu  1 , Tin Chiu Li  1 , Chi Chiu Wang  2   3   4
Affiliations

Decreased MUC1 in endometrium is an independent receptivity marker in recurrent implantation failure during implantation window

Fangrong Wu et al. Reprod Biol Endocrinol. .

Abstract

Background: It is postulated that women suffered from recurrent implantation failure (RIF) have different endometrial receptivity compared to those who experienced with idiopathic recurrent miscarriage (RM). In this study, expression of common endometrial markers Leukemia inhibitor factor (LIF), mucin 1 (MUC1) and integrin β3 were studied and compared.

Methods: Fourteen women with RIF, 25 with RM and 20 fertile controls were recruited for endometrial biopsy during implantation window on day LH + 7. Spatial and temporal expression of MUC1, LIF and Integrin β3 were compared using semi-quantitative immunohistochemistry. Association of MUC1, LIF and integrin β3 expression levels with demographic and clinical characteristics were determined.

Results: MUC1 expression in both luminal and glandular epithelium in women with RIF were significantly lower than that in women with RM and fertile controls. There were no differences in LIF and Integrin β3 expression in endometrial epithelium among three groups. Decreased MUC1 expression were not significantly associated with age, BMI, gravidity, parity, cycle length, progesterone level and previous miscarriage.

Conclusions: Deceased expression of MUC1 is an independent marker for endometrial receptivity in RIF women, suggesting MUC1 may contribute to the reproductive failure in RIF women.

Keywords: Endometrium; Implantation; Receptivity markers; Reproductive failure.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was approved by the ethics committee of the Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. All the participants provided written consent to participate in the study.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
MUC1, LIF and integrin β3 staining in endometrium. LE, luminal epithelium, GE, glandular epithelium, SC, stromal cell. Magnification: X 200. Scale bar: 100μm
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Differentiated expression of MUC1, LIF and integrin β3. H-sores of LIF, MUC1 and integrin β3 expression in luminal (upper panels) and glandular (lower panels) epithelium were compared by one-way ANOVA among groups, and post-hoc LSD test has been used to test the multiple-pairwise comparisons. NC, control group; RIF, recurrent implantation failure; RM, recurrent miscarriage. NS, no significant.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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