Exploring the shared gene signatures and potential molecular mechanisms between chronic endometritis and recurrent pregnancy loss based on transcriptomic analysis

Abstract

Abstract Chronic endometritis (CE) is recognized as an infectious and inflammatory disorder of the endometrium. Despite previous studies emphasizing the strong association between CE and recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL), their interaction and molecular mechanisms remain elusive. In our study, we aimed to explore the common gene signatures and potential molecular mechanism shared by CE and RPL. Utilizing GEO datasets, we identified two modules significantly correlated with CE and one module associated with RPL through weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA). The ClueGO enrichment analysis results of shared genes showed that high IFN response was a shared feature in CE and RPL, which was confirmed by the results of differential expression analysis in two datasets. The unique gene signatures were also explored for the potential molecular mechanism in CE and RPL. Moreover, the constructed miRNA-target network indicated a potential regulatory role of hsa-miR-27a on the shared IFN-induced genes. Our study firstly provides the insights into the shared gene signatures and potential molecular mechanism of CE and RPL. Furthermore, the IFN-induced genes might be related to the inflammation of endometrium and the occurrence of CE, which contributed to the identification of effective biomarkers or potential therapeutic targets for RPL patients.