Document Type : Original Article

Authors

• Lida Aslanian-Kalkhoran ^{1, 2, 3}
• Mohammad Sadegh Soltani-Zangbar ¹
• Ali Aghebati-Maleki ⁴
• Mahya AhmadpourYoushanlui ¹
• Mehdi Yousefi ¹
• Leili Aghebati Maleki ¹

¹ Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.

² Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, ‎Tabriz, Iran.

³ Student Research Committee, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.

⁴ Department of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tabriz University ‎of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.

Abstract

Background: Autophagy genes are essential for proper uterine function, reproductive physiology, and the maintenance of endometrial atrophy (EA).
Objective: This study aims to clarify how these genes impact endometrial thickness and their significance in the apoptosis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with thin endometria.
Methods: Blood samples were collected from 40 patients with a thin endometrium and 40 healthy controls, all in the non-pregnancy stage. Real-Time PCR was used to measure the expression levels of autophagy genes ATG5, ATG7, LC3B, Beclin1, FOXO1, FOXO3a, FOXO4, and FOXO6 in 40 women with thin endometrium and 40 healthy women. Apoptosis was also assessed by flow cytometry. To further elucidate the biological pathways and processes associated with the differentially expressed autophagy genes, we conducted a KEGG pathway enrichment analysis using the EnrichR tool.
Results: Evaluation of autophagy gene expression showed a significant difference between the studied groups, with higher expression of ATG5, ATG7, LC3B, Beclin1, FOXO1, FOXO3a, FOXO4, and FOXO6 in the patient group. Moreover, there was a positive correlation between LC3B expression and the frequency of apoptotic cells in the studied patients. The EnrichR tool identified the enriched pathways: "Shigellosis," "FOXO signaling," "Fruptosis," and, to a lesser extent, "Longevity regulating pathway," "Autophagy," and "Mitophagy."
Conclusion: Our results showed that autophagy genes associated with apoptosis in PBMCs may be involved in endometrial thinning in EA patients.

Keywords

• Apoptosis
• Autophagy
• ATG
• Endometrium
• FOXO