Background: Gonadotropin therapy was used to stimulate the ovary in infertile women who underwent assisted reproduction treatment (ART). Numerous studies indicated that infertile women showed different responses to gonadotropin therapy. Follicle stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) and Oestrogen receptor (ER) polymorphisms have been reported to involve induction of folliculogenesis and ovarian response to treatment.
Methods: In the present study, two polymorphisms, namely FSHR rs6165 and ESR2 rs4986938, were investigated in 198 Iranian infertile women aged less than 39 years who underwent ART. After DNA extraction, these polymorphisms were genotyped by TaqMan genotyping assay. According to the number of eggs released during ovulation, the patients were categorized into poor responders (PR) and good responders (GR). The results indicated that the good responders showed lower levels of FSH and LH than poor responders.
Results: No association was observed between ESR2 rs4986938 and poor response in Iranian women patients. Instead, FSHR rs6165 showed a strong association with ovarian response to ART (p< 0.05).
Conclusion: The obtained results indicated that FSHR rs6165, not ESR2 rs4986938, could be suggested as a candidate marker to predict poor ovarian response.
Keywords: ESR2; FSHR; TaqMan genotyping assay; polymorphism; poor responders.