Expression and clinical significance of miR-141-5p as a biomarker in the serum of patients with early spontaneous abortion

AIM

miR-141-5p expression in patients with Early Spontaneous Abortion (ESA) and its correlation with hormone levels during pregnancy were investigated.

METHODS

A total of 70 pregnant women with ESA were selected as the research group, and 70 normal pregnant women who chose abortion for non-medical reasons were selected as the Con group. Serum β-HCG, Progesterone (P), and Estrogen (E2) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Differentially expressed miRNAs were screened by miRNA microarray analysis. miR-141-5p expression was detected by RT-qPCR, and its correlation with serum β-HCG, P, and E2 levels was analyzed. The diagnostic value of miR-141-5p for ESA was evaluated by the ROC curve.

RESULTS

Serum β-HCG, P, and E2 were decreased and serum miR-141-5p was increased in patients with ESA. Pearson correlation analysis showed that serum β-HCG, P, and E2 levels were negatively correlated with miR-141-5p expression levels. ROC curve showed that miR-141-5p had a diagnostic value for ESA.

CONCLUSIONS

miR-141-5p is related to hormone levels during pregnancy and is expected to become a new candidate diagnostic marker for ESA.

Association Between Anti-Müllerian Hormone and Early Spontaneous Abortion in Assisted Reproduction Treatment: A Case-Control Study Integrated with Biological Evidence

Early spontaneous abortion (ESA) is a common adverse pregnancy outcome mainly attributed to embryo chromosomal abnormalities. However, as a quantitative marker, whether the anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) can reflect oocyte quality is still controversial. By integrating biological evidence and adjusting many cofounders, this study aimed to clarify the controversies about the association between AMH and ESA caused by embryo aneuploidy during assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment. We strictly preselected 988 patients receiving first ART treatment for analyzing clinical data, while 55 of them acquired chorionic villi karyotype results. In addition, 373 biopsied embryos from 126 patients receiving preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGT) were tracked to compare embryo karyotypes. Univariate and multiple factor regressions were applied to analyze the risk factors leading to ESA. As covariates unadjusted, AMH (odds ratio 0.87, 95% CI 0.82-0.93) was the significant variable contributing to ESA. However, AMH played no significant role in the following regression models after age was adjusted. Also, AMH had no significant association with ESA in most age-adjusted subgroups, except in the male factors engaged subgroup. Additionally, compared to the patients with euploid chorionic villi karyotypes, those with aneuploid karyotypes were older and acquired fewer oocytes, yet their AMH levels were not significantly different. Furthermore, the embryo aneuploidy was independent of AMH while associated with maternal age, retrieved oocyte number, and embryo quality. This study suggested that AMH was unassociated with the ESA caused by embryo aneuploidy in ART therapy. As a critical cofounder, age remains the variable closely related to ESA.

C677T polymorphism increases the risk of early spontaneous abortion

Purpose

To investigate the relationship of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism in male population having spouses with early spontaneous abortion.

Methods

A total of 345 males whose spouses had at least one early spontaneous abortion were included in the study group, and 145 males who planned to have a second child were included in the control group. Semen was collected in a sterile cup by masturbation. After liquefaction, the sperm concentration and forward motility sperm rate (PR) were obtained. The genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral vein, followed by MTHFR C677T polymorphism detection through PCR-gold magnetic nanoparticle chromatography.

Results

The numbers of alleles and genotypes of MTHFR in the case group were 303 (C), 387 (T), 64 (CC), 175 (CT), and 106 (TT) cases, respectively. The numbers of allele and genotype of MTHFR in the control group were 167 (C), 123 (T), 145 (CC), 65 (CT), and 29 (TT) cases. There were significant differences in the distribution frequency of genotypes (χ² = 17.005, P = 0.000) and alleles (χ² = 15.295, P = 0.000) between the two groups. For cases with more spontaneous abortion, more cases had CT and TT phenotypes. Participants with genotype CT had the highest sperm concentration and PR in both groups (P < 0.05).

Conclusions

MTHFR could affect sperm DNA integrity through affecting DNA methylation, which led to an increase in the rate of early spontaneous abortion in spouses.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1007/s10815-019-01500-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.