Korean J Obstet Gynecol.  2001 Sep;44(9):1596-1601.

The Effect of low-dose Aspirin and Clomiphene Citrate on the Expression of Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules (NCAM) in the Human Endometrium

• Lee JH
• Hwang JH
• Kim SR
• Moon YJ
• Park MI
• Chung SR
• Moon H
• Hwang YY
• Jang SJ
• Park IK

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
The treatment with low-dose aspirin in the patients with unexplained infertility has been reported to improve the pregnancy rate and implantation rate via increasing the blood flow in the endometrium. But there are little known about the relationships between low-dose aspirin and cell adhesion molecules, NCAM. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of low-dose aspirin and clomiphene citrate treatment on the expression of NCAM in the endometrium.
METHODS
The patients with unexplained infertility (N=37) were grouped into 3 groups: clomiphene citrate and low-dose aspirin treated group (N=8), clomiphene citrate treated group (N=10), and natural cycle group (N=10, no treatment). As control group, the proliferative and menopausal endometrium was used. Each endometium was obtained by endometrial biopsy performed in late luteal phase and immunohistochemical staining with NCAM was performed.
RESULTS
In the stromal cells, the staining intensity of NCAM expression and the number of vessels were significantly increased in the endomterium treated with clomiphene citrate and low-dose aspirin compared with other groups (p<0.05). And the expression of NCAM in the prolifertive and menopausal endometrium showed very weak staining.
CONCLUSION
The expression of NCAM in the stromal cells and the number of vessels were increased in the endometrium of unexplained infertility patients treated with clomiphene citrate and low-dose aspirin. These findings may suggest low-dose aspirin has an important role during the secretory phase of endometrium to improve the implantation via increasing the expression of cell adhesion molecules, especially NCAM and increasing the number of vessels.

Keyword

Neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM); low-dose Aspirin; Clomiphene Citrate; Unexplained Infertility

MeSH Terms

Aspirin*
Biopsy
Cell Adhesion Molecules
Clomiphene*
Endometrium*
Female
Humans*
Infertility
Luteal Phase
Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules*
Pregnancy Rate
Stromal Cells
Aspirin
Cell Adhesion Molecules
Clomiphene
Neural Cell Adhesion Molecules