Association of -765G>C polymorphism of the COX-2 gene with recurrent embryo implantation failure in Southern Chilean women

Background Embryo implantation failure is considered an important cause of infertility in women undergoing assisted reproductive protocols Recent studies demonstrated that the cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) enzyme is implicated in biosynthesis of prostaglandins and play an important role in the molecular implantation mechanisms According to this evidence, we evaluated the potential association between the - 765G>C (rs20417) polymorphism at the COX-2 gene and the implantation failure susceptibility in a sample of Chilean women Methods A total of 186 unrelated women matched by age were included in the present study, 106 patients (aged 31 9 +/- 4 17 y) with no history of successful pregnancy and a diagnosis of infertility undergoing assisted reproductive protocols and 80 healthy controls (aged 31 4 +/- 405 y) The COX-2 765G>C gene polymorphism was analyzed by PCR-RFLP. Results. Genotype distribution and allelic frequencies for 765G>C polymorphism of COX-2 gene were significantly different between patients and controls (P=0 004 and P=0002, respectively). The odds ratio for implantation failure associated to the - 765C allelic variant was 2.14 (95% C, 1.35-339, P=0 00071) Conclusion Our data suggest, by the first time, that the COX-2 765G>C polymorphism is associated with recurrent implantation failure in Chilean women and may constituted a novel molecular biomarker of reproductive failure (C) 2010 Elsevier B V All rights reserved