Ovarian drilling down-regulates endometrial nuclear factor-κB p65 expression in women with PCOS: A prospective case-control study

Nur Dokuzeylül Güngör; Kağan Güngör; Arzu Yurci; Kaan Cil; Şafak Hatırnaz

doi:10.4274/tjod.galenos.2022.44845

Ovarian drilling down-regulates endometrial nuclear factor-κB p65 expression in women with PCOS: A prospective case-control study

Turk J Obstet Gynecol. 2022 Mar 28;19(1):45-50. doi: 10.4274/tjod.galenos.2022.44845.

Authors

Nur Dokuzeylül Güngör¹, Kağan Güngör², Arzu Yurci³, Kaan Cil⁴, Şafak Hatırnaz⁵

Affiliations

¹ Bahçeşehir University, Medical Park Göztepe Hospital, Clinic of Reproductive Endocrinology and In Vitro Fertilization, İstanbul, Turkey.
² Medeniyet University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, İstanbul, Turkey.
³ Kayseri Memorial Hospital, Clinic of In Vitro Fertilization, Kayseri, Turkey.
⁴ Otto Von Guericke University of Magdeburg, Medical Student, Magdeburg, Germany.
⁵ Samsun Medicana Hospital, Clinic of In Vitro Fertilization Unit, Samsun, Turkey.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the impact of laparoscopic ovarian drilling (LOD) on the expression of endometrial NFκB p65 (Rel A) in women with clomiphene-resistant polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Materials and methods: The study group comprised 25 normal-weight women with PCOS undergoing LOD and 14 control women without PCOS. Endometrial NF-κB p65 levels evaluated before and after LOD following immunohistochemical staining. The semiquantitative method was used to evaluate the intensity of NF-κB p65 levels. NF-κB p65 was found to higher in the endometrium of patients with PCOS compared to controls. LOD leads to significant down-regulation in endometrial NF-κB p65 expression. NF-κB p65 expression of PCOS and fertile control were similar after LOD. After LOD, H-score values decreased approximately 3-fold. The H-score of the control subjects was lower than the preoperative and postoperative H-score values of the control women with ovarian cyst.

Results: Expression of endometrial NF-κB p65 did not change following ovarian cystectomy. The laterality of the ovarian cyst did not cause any change in preoperative H-score values.

Conclusion: By downregulating the endometrial NF-κB p65 expression LOD improved physiological inflammation in women with PCOS.

Keywords: PCOS; clomiphene; endometrial inflammation; nuclear factor κB; ovarian drilling.