Progesterone — often called the “pregnancy hormone” — plays a crucial role in embryo development, the first stage of fetal growth. In a new study from the University of Missouri School of Medicine, researchers found that when the body lacks sufficient proteins needed to respond to progesterone, inflammation increases. However, it remains unclear whether these low protein levels directly cause the inflammation.
“What we do know is that inflammation is bad for embryo development,” said Joy Winuthayanon, an associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and women’s health and co-author of the study. “Embryos are highly sensitive to any stressors in their environment. When we treated the inflammation, more embryos survived long enough to implant themselves in the uterus.”
The good news: These findings could help improve women’s chances of becoming pregnant. More than 60% of pregnancy losses occur in the first four to six weeks, which is often before most patients are aware they are pregnant. Understanding the early stages of the embryo’s development could help save more pregnancies, especially for women with certain conditions such as pelvic inflammatory disease.
“Women with low progesterone or inflammation in the reproductive system typically have more difficulty conceiving and becoming pregnant,” co-author Dr. Mark Hunter said. “This research presents a potential explanation and opens the door to possible treatments.”
Winuthayanon said future research will focus on developing effective, convenient and non-invasive anti-inflammatory treatments, which could include a new medication or an injection.
“Currently, we are planning to investigate how targeting specific inflammatory pathways in the female reproductive tract might improve the development of embryos and implantation success,” Winuthayanon said.
Wipawee “Joy” Winuthayanon is an associate professor at the Mizzou School of Medicine and a NextGen Precision Health investigator. Mark Hunter is a gynecologic oncologist at MU Health Care, an associate professor at the School of Medicine and the director of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology. Co-authors from Mizzou are Jiude Mao, Kalli Stephens, Feyza Nur Arguc, Sarayut Winuthayanon, Haval Shirwan and Esma Yolcu.
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