The Effect of Clomiphene Citrate on Oocyte Quality via Expression of Growth Differentiation Factor-9 in Mice with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

Background: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder in women which influences 5 to 26 percent of them during reproductive age. Clinical features consists of menstrual disorders, hirsutism, acne, alopecia and irregular ovulation. Clomiphene citrate is an anti-estrogen com-bination which is used to increase LH and FSH levels to de-velop ovulation and improve fertility, can induce ovulation in approximately 80 percent of women with ovulation disorders. Various studies have demonstrated that growth differentiation factor-9 (GDF-9) can be considered as a marker in determining the quality of oocyte. The aim of this study was to determine the expression of GDF-9 gene in the oocytes of PCOS mice treated with clomiphene citrate.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 18 adult female NMRI mice (25-30 g) were studied and divided random-ly into 3 groups as follows: i) healthy control, ii) PCOS, and iii) treatment groups. The PCOS mice were induced by single intramuscular injection of estradiol valerate. Animals in treat-ment group were treated with clomiphene citrate for 10 days subsequent the induction of PCOS. Total RNA was extracted from oocytes and the expression of GDF-9 was determined us-ing real time PCR. The level of blood sexual hormones were analyzed using ELISA method.Results: Our results showed that GDF-9 expression level al-tered in the group treated with clomiphene citrate compared to the PCOS group which difference was significant at P value of 0.05. FSH and LH hormones level was also improved against the PCOS group.Conclusion: The Clomiphene citrate treatment can improve the quality of oocytes in PCOS mice. This result could be under consideration of infertility treatment methods.

Keywords:

Gene Expression , Clomiphene Citrate , Oocyte , Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome