A potential determinant role of adiponectin and receptors for the early embryo development in PCOS patients with obesity hinted by quantitative profiling

Abstract

Objective: To identify the quantitative profiling of adiponectin and its receptors (AdipoR1, AdipoR2, and T-cadherin) in cumulus cells (CCs) and to evaluate their roles in the early embryo development of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients, in part, with obesity.

Methods: Fifty-five subjects were divided into two groups according to the body mass index. Oocytes were further inseminated and only mature and normal fertilized oocytes (2PN) were included in this research. Real-time PCR and western blot were performed to identify adiponectin and its receptors in CCs.

Results: Adiponectin and receptors were ubiquitously expressed in CCs of PCOS and non-PCOS patients. The level of AdipoR2 in CCs from the oocytes yielding blastocyst after 5/6 days in vitro culture was markedly higher than in those from oocytes could not develop to blastocyst stage after Day 6, for non-obese or obese PCOS patients (0.1647 ± 0.0161 versus 0.0783 ± 0.0385, 0.1948 ± 0.0307 versus 0.1057 ± 0.0236, respectively, p < 0.05). In addition, only in patients with PCOS and concurrent obesity the AdipoR1 in CCs was considerably increased in CC-B⁺ compared with CC-B⁻ subgroup (0.5162 ± 0.0371 versus 0.2448 ± 0.0333, p < 0.01).

Conclusion: The development of early embryo was associated with the up-regulation of AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 in PCOS patients. Our results suggested that adiponectin could positively modulate embryo development in humans. Further investigations should be carried out to unlock the crucial role that adiponectin plays in embryo development.

Chinese abstract

目的: 定量分析卵丘细胞 (CC) 中的脂联素及其受体 (AdipoR1, AdipoR2和T-cadherin) , 并在一定程度上评估其在肥胖的多囊卵巢综合征 (PCOS) 患者早期胚胎发育中的作用。

方法: 根据体重指数将55名受试者分为两组。卵母细胞进一步授精, 只有成熟和正常受精卵母细胞 (2PN) 才会纳入此项研究。进行实时PCR和western印迹以鉴定卵丘细胞中的脂联素及其受体。

结果: 脂联素和其受体在PCOS和非PCOS患者的卵丘细胞中普遍表达。在体外培养5/6天后产生了胚泡的卵母细胞的CC中的AdipoR2水平显著高于在第6天后不能发育成囊胚期的那些卵母细胞, 包括非肥胖或肥胖的PCOS患者 (0.1647 ± 0.0161 VS 0.0783 ± 0.0385,0.1948 ± 0.0307 VS 0.1057 ± 0.0236, p <0.05) 。此外, 只有在PCOS并发肥胖的患者中, CC-B⁺组CC中的AdipoR1比CC-B^－亚组显著增加 (0.5162 ± 0.0371 VS 0.2448 ± 0.0333, p <0.01) 。

结论: 早期胚胎的发育与PCOS患者中AdipoR1和AdipoR2的上调有关。我们的研究结果表明脂联素可以上调人类胚胎发育。尚需进行进一步探讨脂联素在胚胎发育中起关键作用的机制。

Keywords:

• Adiponectin
• adiponectin receptor
• cumulus cell
• embryo development
• polycystic ovary syndrome

Declaration of interest

The research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

This work was supported in part by Yantai Science and Technology Development Project (Grant No. 2013WS208) and Shandong Technology Development Program for Medicine and Health (2013WS0034).