Autophagy activity is increased in the cumulus cells of women with poor ovarian response

Objective: To evaluate the autophagy status of cumulus cells (CCs) in women with poor ovarian response (POR). Materials and methods: CCs were divided into normal ovarian response (NOR) group and POR group. The ultrastructure of autophagy was analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (NOR: n = 18, POR: n = 26). The mRNA and protein of autophagy markers were detected by Quantitative real -time polymerase chain reaction (NOR: n = 15, POR: n = 19) and Western blotting (NOR: n = 41, POR: n = 38), respectively. Results: Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated abundant autophagosomes and even autophagic death in the POR group. There were no differences in LC3 and P62 mRNA expression between the two groups (p > 0.05). The BCL2 mRNA expression was lower in the POR group (p < 0.05). Moreover, the LC3 II/I ratio and the P62 protein expression were significantly higher in the POR group (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Autophagy in CCs of POR women is activated and the autophagic flux is blocked. The upregulation of autophagy in CCs may be related to the pathogenesis of POR. (c) 2024 Taiwan Association of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).