title: Association of -765G>C polymorphism of the COX-2 gene with recurrent embryo implantation failure in Southern Chilean women.
abstract: 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 ± 4.05 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=0.002, respectively). The odds ratio for implantation failure associated to the -765C allelic variant was 2.14 (95% C.I., 1.35-3.39, P=0.00071).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  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.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Biología Molecular & Farmacogenética, Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco, Chile. lsalazar@ufro.cl
authors.forename: Luis A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Salazar
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inostroza
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jara
authors.forename: Félix
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vega
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: García
authors.forename: Italo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ciuffardi
authors.forename: Neftalí
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Guzmán
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002677:Chile; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2 / Q000235:genetics*; D010064:Embryo Implantation; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D056726:Genetic Association Studies; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007246:Infertility / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011247:Pregnancy; D012008:Recurrence
chemical_list: D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2