Follicle-stimulating hormone receptor gene polymorphism in Albanian women

Abstract

<b>Introduction</b>: Several parameters have been postulated as predictors of ovarian response (inhibin B, 17-estradiol and anti-Müllerian hormone. Consequently, the variants of FSHR were explored and they may be involved in the role of FSH receptor in mediated signal transduction and with ovarian response in infertile women submitted to ovarian stimulation. The aim of the study was to investigate association of Asn680Ser FSHR polymorphism with the ovarian response in 104 women of Albanian ethnic population enrolled in ICSI program. <br /> <b>Material and methods</b>: Analysis of the Asn680Ser polymorphism was performed using TaqMan® SNP Genotyping Assay. Clinical and endocrinologic parameters were analyzed based on the genotype, age, body mass index (BMI), oocyte yield, number of transferred embryos and pregnancy rate.<br /> <b>Results: </b> The frequencies of genotypes were: Asn/Asn 22.1%, Asn/Ser 47.1%, and Ser/Ser 30.8%. Body mass index was significantly higher in the Ser/Ser as compared to the Asn/Ser (p = 0.0152) or the Asn/Asn group (p = 0.0014). Basal estradiol (bE2) levels showed statistically significant difference (0.0308) between the genotype variants. Correlation analysis showed statistically significant (p < 0.0001) negative correlation of oocyte retrieval number in respect to age, bFSH (basal FSH) stimulation length and gonadotropin dose.<br /> <b>Conclusions</b>: The results in the present study provide new addition to the understanding of the impact of FSHR genotype variants on controlled ovarian stimulation. FSH receptor polymorphism is associated with different ovarian response to controlled ovarian stimulation (COS), but is not an important factor in increasing the degree of pregnancy.