Elsevier

Fertility and Sterility

Volume 100, Issue 5, November 2013, Pages 1476-1485.e5
Fertility and Sterility

Original article
A tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitor reduces the embryotoxic effects of endometriotic peritoneal fluid

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2013.07.1985Get rights and content
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Objective

To determine whether a tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) inhibitor can reduce the embryotoxicity of the peritoneal fluid (PF) of women with endometriosis.

Design

Experimental clinical study.

Setting

University hospital.

Patient(s)

Twelve women with chocolate cysts and 12 control women without endometriosis.

Intervention(s)

None.

Main Outcome Measure(s)

We collected the PF from patients with chocolate cysts (CH-PF) and patients without endometriosis (N-PF) during laparoscopic surgery. For the in vitro studies, development and apoptosis were evaluated in two-cell stage mouse embryos after incubation with CH-PF and N-PF, with or without a TNF-α inhibitor.

Result(s)

We found that CH-PF significantly decreased the rate of blastocyst development and increased the percentage of apoptotic cells in the embryos. Cytokine assays showed that the concentrations of several cytokines, including TNF-α, were higher in embryos incubated with CH-PF than in those incubated with N-PF. Furthermore, the treatment of embryos with TNF-α retarded development and induced apoptosis. Important, adalimumab, a TNF-α inhibitor, effectively abrogated the embryotoxicity that was induced by CH-PF.

Conclusion(s)

These data collectively highlight the crucial role of TNF-α in CH-PF-induced embryotoxicity and suggest that TNF-α inhibitors may be potential therapeutic agents for treating endometriosis-induced infertility.

Key Words

TNF-α
embryotoxicity
endometriosis
peritoneal fluid

Cited by (0)

Y.-J.C. has nothing to disclose. H.-H.W. has nothing to disclose. W.-T.L. has nothing to disclose. C.-Y.T. has nothing to disclose. H.-W.T. has nothing to disclose. K.-C.C. has nothing to disclose. Y.-J.S. has nothing to disclose. H.-Y.L. has nothing to disclose.

Y.-J.C. and H.-H.W. should be considered similar in author order.

Supported in part by the National Science Council (NSC 99-2314-B-010-009-MY3, NSC 100-2314-B-075–008, and NSC 101-2314-B-075-028-MY3, NSC 101-2314-B-010-031-MY3, NSC 98-2314-B-010-041-MY3), Taipei Veterans General Hospital (VGH-99-A-065, VGH-101-B1-017, VGH-99-C1-166, VGH-101-C1-068, VGH-101-C1-128, VGH-102C-051, V102E1-009, V101C-140), and Yen-Tjing-Ling Medical Foundation (CI-97-6 and CI-100-12).