Restoring specific intestinal microbes levels could help treat fertility problems in people with SOPK
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Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (SOPK) have lower levels of an intestinal microbe, which seems to increase the risk of complications of pregnancy.
SOPK is the most common hormonal condition in women of childbearing age and is a cause of infertility. However, relatively little is included on the causes or how to treat it as well as possible. For example, it is not clear why people with SOPK who are able to get pregnant present a higher risk of complications such as miscarriage, premature birth and gestational diabetes.
Aixia Liu at the University of Zhejiang in China and her colleagues monitored pregnancy results in 220 women in 44 cities in China, half of whom had sopk. All were under 35 and provided samples of blood, stools and tissues from their endometrium or the inner mucosa of the uterus.
Despite similar pregnancy rates, people with SOPK were almost twice as likely to undergo a complication of pregnancy, such as a miscarriage, premature birth, gestational diabetes or a child with low birth weight. Researchers also found that people with sopk had about half of the amount of intestinal bacteria called MERDAE parabacteroides that those without state and that has been associated with the results of pregnancy.
P. MERDAE Helps to convert certain nutrients, such as amino acid isoleucine, beneficial compounds called short chain fatty acids that play an important role in reproductive health. This probably explains why participants with SOPK had, on average, about 39% more isoleucine and 10% of short chain fat levels in blood samples than those without him. They also had higher levels of isoleucine in endometrial tissues.
When the researchers cultivated the endometrial cells of the participants and exposed them to isoleucine in a dish, they saw an increase in the markers of cellular senescence, where the cells become so worn or damaged that they cease to operate. Isoleucine has also hampered endometrial cells of the process that suffers in preparation and during pregnancy.
“These results indicate aging changes in the uterus,” said Liu in a press release from an annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, where it presented these results. “Our data suggest that high levels of isoleucine and the loss of P. MERDA Can harm the health of the endometrium, even in women under the age of 35. »»
Although this suggests that changes to the intestinal microbiome can contribute to fertility problems in the SOPK, Andrea Dunaif at the Icahn Medicine School of Mount Sinai in New York is skeptical. His own research suggests that the aging of reproduction in the SOPK is delayed, rather than accelerated. “Their reproductive anomalies tend to improve in their thirties,” explains Dunaif. “This makes me skeptical about the importance of the results of the endometrium, and if they are really what is responsible for these alterations and these pregnancy results.”
However, these results could lead to an improvement in fertility treatments for the SOPK. “The microbiome is something [where] You can intervene with different probiotics to modify the [bacteria]”, Said Dunaif.” It is therefore good to have a potential target to treat because we do not really have specific treatments for the SOPK. »»
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