shahrzad zhaeentan - Department of Anatomical Science, Iran University of Medical Science

Background: The tight junction between epithelial cells helps making connections in the fallopian tube and contributes to successful fertilization. Breaking the tight junction complex induces various diseases such as the EP. Methods: Using the human fallopian tube, epithelial cell line (OE-E6/E7) was cultured in four concentrations of hydrocortisone (0nM, 50nM, 100nM and 200nM) for three durations (24h, 48h and 72h).The genes expression of junctional molecules was investigated by QRTPCR and compared to control. Result: Glucocorticoids are effective on the expression of Zona occluding-1(ZO-1), Claudin 4, Claudin3, Desmoglein and E-cadherin genes.The expression of all genes was Up-regulated in the concentrations of 100nM after 48h treatment, ascompared with the control (0nM). However, their expression was down-regulated significantly after 72h treatment (P<0.05). Conclusion: The obtained data suggests that a new mechanism is developed for glucocorticoid induction of tight junctions by increasing the expression of claudin-3, claudin-4, E-cadherin, zona occludin-1 and Desmoglein-1 genes. So maybe the occurrence of EP in patients who were treated by IVF method will increase due to the high stress of IVF process which leads to high systemic glucocorticoids.

Glucocorticoid, Tight Junction, Fallopian Tube, Epithelial Cell