Relationships between serum luteinizing hormone level, endometrial thickness and body mass index in polycystic ovary syndrome patients with and without endometrial hyperplasia

Background: The endometrial hyperplasia measured by ultrasound in poly cystic ovary syndrome [PCOS] women is strongly related to pathologic endometrial thickness, but there is no consensus on the relation between serum luteinizing hormone [LH] and either of these factors: pathologic endometrial hyperplasia and body mass index [BMI]

Materials and Methods: In this observational cross-sectional study, three hundred fifty infertile PCOS women were involved in this research. An endometrial biopsy was taken by using a pipelle instrument, regardless of menstrual cycle's day and all samples were reported by the same pathologist. Basal serum LH level was compared between two subgroups [hyperplasia and non-hyperplasia]. The intended population was divided into three groups according to BMI and basal serum LH, later on the comparison was made in three groups. Chi-square test was applied to compare nominal variables between groups. Mann-Whitney U, and one way ANOVA tests were used to compare means on the basis of the result of normality test

Results: The frequency of endometrial hyperplasia was 2.6%. Endometrial thickness in the patients with endometrial hyperplasia was significantly higher than that of a normal endometrium [10.78 +/- 3.70 vs. 7.90 +/- 2.86 respectively, P=0.020]. There was no relation between endometrial hyperplasia and serum LH [P=0.600]. The ANOVA test showed serum LH levels were not the same among three BMI groups [P=0.007]. Post hoc test was also performed. It showed that the LH level in normal BMI group was significantly higher than those of other groups [P=0.005 and P=0.004], but there was no statistical difference between overweight and obese groups [P=0.8]. We found no relationship between BMI and endometrial thickness in PCOS patients [P=0.6]

Conclusion: Sonographic endometrial stripe thickness is predictive for endometrial hyperplasia in PCOS women. We could not find out any relationship between serum LH level and BMI with endometrial thickness in PCOS patients. However, our study confirmed a diverse relationship between serum LH level and BMI in PCOS patients

MRNA expression of VEGF and its receptors in fallopian tubes of women with ectopic pregnancies

Establishment of viable pregnancy requires embryo implantation and placentation. Ectopic pregnancy [EP] is a pregnancy complication which occurs when an embryo implants outside of the uterine cavity, most often in a fallopian tube. On the other hand, an important aspect of successful implantation is angiogenesis. Vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF] is a potent angiogenic factor responsible for vascular development that acts through its receptors, VEGF receptor 1 [VEGFR1] and VEGFR2. This study aims to investigate mRNA expression of VEGF and its receptors in fallopian tubes of women who have EP compared with fallopian tubes of pseudo-pregnant women. We hypothesize that expression of VEGF and its receptors in human fallopian tubes may change during EP. This was a case-control study. The case group consisted of women who underwent salpingectomy because of EP. The control group consisted of women with normal fallopian tubes that underwent hysterectomy. Prior to tubal sampling, each control subject received an injection of human chorionic gonadotropin [hCG] to produce a state of pseudo-pregnancy. Fallopian tubes from both groups were procured. We investigated VEGF, VEGFR1 and VEGFR2 mRNA expressions in different sections of these tubes [infundibulum, ampulla and isthmus] by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction [RT-PCR] and quantitative PCR [Q-PCR]. RT-PCR showed expressions of these genes in all sections of the fallopian tubes in both groups. Q-PCR analysis revealed that expressions of VEGF, VEGFR1 and VEGFR2 were lower in all sections of the fallopian tubes from the case group compared to the controls. Only VEGFR2 had higher expression in the ampulla of the case group. Decreased expressions of VEGF, VEGFR1 and VEGFR2 in the EP group may have a role in the pathogenesis of embryo implantation in fallopian tubes