In in vitro fertilization cycles, both HP-hMG and rFSH gonadotropin treatments are widely used to control human follicle\r\ndevelopment. The objectives of this study are (i) to characterize and compare gene expression profiles in cumulus cells (CCs)\r\nof periovulatory follicles obtained from patients stimulated with HP-hMG or rFSH in a GnRH antagonist cycle and (ii) to\r\nexamine their relationship with in vitro embryo development, using Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 microarrays. Genes that were\r\nupregulated in HP-hMG-treated CCs are involved in lipid metabolism (GM2A) and cell-to-cell interactions (GJA5). Conversely,\r\ngenes upregulated in rFSH-treated CCs are implicated in cell assembly and organization (COL1A1 and COL3A1). Interestingly, some\r\ngenes specific to each gonadotropin treatment (NPY1R and GM2A for HP-hMG; GREM1 and OSBPL6 for rFSH) were associated\r\nwith day 3 embryo quality and blastocyst grade at day 5, while others (STC2 and PTX3) were related to in vitro embryo quality in\r\nboth gonadotropin treatments. These genes may prove valuable as biomarkers of in vitro embryo quality.
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