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Human Reproduction, Vol. 18, No. 2, 364-369, February 2003
© 2003 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology

Endometrial integrin expression in women undergoing IVF and ICSI: a comparison of the two groups and fertile controls

K. Thomas1,2,4, A.J. Thomson1, S.J. Wood1, C.R. Kingsland1, G. Vince3 and D.I. Lewis-Jones1,2

1 Reproductive Medicine Unit, Liverpool Women’s Hospital, Liverpool and Departments of 2 Obstetrics and Gynaecology and 3 Immunology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK

4 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Reproductive Medicine Unit, Liverpool Women’s Hospital, Crown Street, Liverpool L8 7SS, UK. e-mail: kthomas@liverpool.ac.uk

BACKGROUND: Integrins are thought to play a vital role in implantation. Three integrins in particular ({alpha}4{beta}1, {alpha}v{beta}3 and {alpha}1{beta}1) are all present during the implantation window. Defects in their expression have been linked to tubal disease, unexplained infertility and endometriosis. Hence, a reduced endometrial integrin expression would be expected in women attending for IVF due to these causes of infertility when compared with those with male factor infertility attending for ICSI. METHODS: Women attending for IVF (n = 25) and ICSI (n = 25) treatment were recruited, and timed endometrial biopsies were taken during the ‘implantation window’ (cycle day 20–24). A group of fertile women (n = 15) attending for sterilization was used as controls. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in integrin expression between patients undergoing IVF or ICSI. Neither did these groups differ from the control group. CONCLUSIONS: The endometrium in patients undergoing ICSI treatment is sometimes thought to be more receptive, as the infertility might be due to a male factor. This study shows that there is no significant difference in integrin expression between patients attending for IVF or ICSI and the control group. These data add to the increasing uncertainty about the clinical value of assessing the endometrium with only one marker, in this case integrins.

Key words: endometrium/implantation/integrins/IVF


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