The effect of moderate to severe endometriosis on expression of growth differentiation factor-9 mRNA in human granulosa cells under controlled ovarian hyperstimulation

To investigate the effect of moderate to severe endometriosis on mRNA expression of growth differentiation factor-9 (GDF-9) in the granulosa cells of mature follicles. Follicular fluid (FF) was obtained from 13 patients with moderate to severe endometriosis and 11 without endometriosis, as a control group, and GDF-9 protein levels in both were assayed by western blotting. mRNA expression by GDF-9 and LH receptor (LHR) in granulosa cells obtained from all patients in the study were investigated by StepOne Real-Time PCR. Although GDF-9 in FF from patients with endometriosis was no different from that of controls, GDF-9 mRNA expression in granulosa cells of patients with endometriosis was statistically significantly lower than for the control group. The number of oocytes and high-quality embryos was positively correlated with GDF-9 mRNA expression in controls but not in patients with endometriosis Moreover, a negative correlation was identified between GDF-9 mRNA expression and serum estrogen and progesterone levels in the control group, whereas no correlation was observed for the endometriosis group. Moderate to severe endometriosis can significantly reduce GDF-9 mRNA expression in the granulosa cells of patients with the disease compared with those without, thus causing poor oocyte maturation and lower embryo quality.