Mehmet ŞİMŞEK, Nusret AKPOLAT, Derya DEVECİ, Hüseyin TİMURKAN, Zehra Sema ÖZKAN

The impact of plasma SOCS3 levels and endometrial leukocytes on unexplained infertility

Background/aim: To investigate the possible differences in endometrial leukocyte subtype distribution between women withunexplained infertility and normal fertile women and to determine whether there is a correlation between endometrial leukocyte countsand plasma cytokine levels in unexplained infertility.Materials and methods: This case-control study involved 79 infertile and 40 fertile women. Peripheral venous blood samples andendometrial samples were obtained on day 21 of the menstrual cycle. Plasma interleukin-4 (IL4), IL6, IL10, IL17, IL35, interferongamma(IFN-g), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a), transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-b), and suppressor of cytokine signaling-3(SOCS3) levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Endometrial CD8, CD56, and CD163 counts were detectedby immunohistochemistry.Results: CD8 and CD56 counts were significantly higher, while CD163 count was significantly lower in infertile women than in fertilewomen. Plasma SOCS3, IL35, and IL4 levels of the infertile group were significantly lower than those of the fertile group (P < 0.01); theremaining cytokine levels were significantly higher in the infertile group than in the fertile group (P < 0.01).Conclusion: We observed aberrant cytotoxic immune activity in infertile women. The interaction between plasma SOCS3 levels andstaining degree of endometrial leukocytes may be either the reason for or result of infertility leading to unavailability of the environmentfor implantation.

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