The Asn680Ser Variant Negatively Impacted the Ovarian Response to Controlled Ovarian Stimulation in Thai Female...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the associations between three follicle-stimulating hormone receptor (FSHR) and FSH β subunit promoter gene polymorphisms, including Asn680Ser, -29G>A, and -211G>T with ovarian response, oocyte maturation, and embryo quality in Thai infertile women.

A total of 78 infertile Thai women undergoing in vitro fertilization or intracytoplasmic sperm injection were recruited. The polymorphisms were analyzed using polymerase chain reaction - restriction fragments length polymorphism.

The Asn680Ser variant was significantly associated with ovarian response. The Asn/Asn genotype was more frequent in hyper-responders (66.7%), while the Asn/Ser genotype predominated among poor responders (71.4%, p=0.038). S-carriers combining Asn/Ser and Ser/Ser genotypes were overrepresented in the poor response group (78.6%, p=0.029). Logistic regression analysis revealed the association between Asn/Ser and S-carriers with poor response [crude odds ratio (OR)= 6.33, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.56-25.66 and 5.36, 95% CI=1.36-21.10, respectively]. The associations remained after age adjustment (adjusted OR=7.71 95% CI=1.73-34.45 and 6.78, 95% CI=1.57-29.29, respectively). In contrast, -29G>A and -211G>T polymorphisms were not associated with ovarian response. There were not any associations between the three polymorphisms and oocytes maturation and embryo quality.

This study is the first to report the association between Asn680Ser FSHR gene polymorphism and the risk of poor response among Thai women.