Oxidative status in granulosa cells of infertile women undergoing IVF

Abstract

Studies on elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels in granulosa cells (GC) and its subsequent effect on fertilization are limited. Oxidative stress (OS) mediated alterations in GC of infertile women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer (ET) was investigated. GC were obtained from 28 women with endometriosis (Group A), 26 women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) (Group B), and 32 women with tubal factor infertility (Group C). GC characteristics including cell count, viability, morphology and number of oocytes retrieved, and oocyte quality were assessed. OS parameters such as ROS, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), and DNA fragmentation were also studied and IVF outcome parameters assessed. An ∼20 fold increase in GC ROS generation was observed in Group B as compared to Group C. Though not as high as Group B, Group A also showed significantly high ROS levels compared with Group C. More than 100-fold decrease in MMP in Group B compared with Group C was observed. A similar trend was observed in Group A, where MMP decreased 7 fold. Significant apoptosis was evident in Groups A and B supported by depolarization of MMP and significant increase in DNA damage. IVF outcome parameters including fertilization rate, good quality embryo formation rate, and pregnancy outcome were adversely affected in Group B. It is hypothesized that ∼20 fold increase in ROS generation in GC of PCOS women plays an adverse role in affecting the IVF success rate. It was of note that the IVF outcome parameters of women with endometriosis were not affected.

Effect of L-carnitine supplementation on maturation and early embryo development of immature mouse oocytes selected by brilliant cresyle blue staining

“…This imbalance can lead to many pathological effects including lipid peroxidation, DNA fragmentation, and ultimately mitochondrial alterations, apoptosis, and fetal growth arrest [30]. ROS is involved in the pathophysiology of a number of female reproductive tract disorders such as endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, preeclampsia maternal diabetes [31][32][33].…”

Protein modification as oxidative stress marker in follicular fluid from women with polycystic ovary syndrome: the effect of inositol and metformin

“…In the follicular microenvironment, besides granulosa cells, leukocytes and macrophages can also be found and all these cell types are able to produce ROS [41]. Furthermore, the expression of antioxidant enzymes in cells that produce steroids (granulosa, thecal and luteal cells) was also reported [42,43]. This suggests that the oocyte is physiologically exposed to oxidative stress and to antioxidant activity both present in the FF [44].…”

Plasticity of granulosa cells: on the crossroad of stemness and transdifferentiation potential

“…Kossowska-Tomaszczuk et al [41] isolated GCs from aspirated follicular fluid of infertile patients based on FSHR; Varras et al [77] collected GCs from cumulus-oocyte complex during oocyte retrieval from fertile patients; and Mattioli et al [47] scraped GCs from internal face of the follicle wall obtained from prepubertal pigs. First variable which can affect differences in stem cell markers is fertility since it was found that the cause of female infertility can drastically affect the GCs viability [34]; therefore this factor should always be taken into account when discussing the stem cell characteristics of GCs. Secondly, expression of genes varies between species and projection (e.g.…”