Abstract

Background: Embryo implantation failure is considered an important cause of infertility in women undergoing assisted reproductive protocols. Recent studies demonstrated that the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) enzyme is implicated in biosynthesis of prostaglandins and play an important role in the molecular implantation mechanisms. According to this evidence, we evaluated the potential association between the -765G>C (rs20417) polymorphism at the COX-2 gene and the implantation failure susceptibility in a sample of Chilean women. Methods: A total of 186 unrelated women matched by age were included in the present study, 106 patients (aged 31.9 ± 4.17 y) with no history of successful pregnancy and a diagnosis of infertility undergoing assisted reproductive protocols and 80 healthy controls (aged 31.4 ± 4.05 y). The COX-2-765G>C gene polymorphism was analyzed by PCR-RFLP. Results: Genotype distribution and allelic frequencies for -765G>C polymorphism of COX-2 gene were significantly different between patients and controls (P= 0.004 and P= 0.002, respectively). The odds ratio for implantation failure associated to the -765C allelic variant was 2.14 (95% C.I., 1.35-3.39, P. = 0.00071). Conclusion: Our data suggest, by the first time, that the COX-2 -765G>C polymorphism is associated with recurrent implantation failure in Chilean women and may constituted a novel molecular biomarker of reproductive failure. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.