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Integrins

Integrins are proteins that are produced by the endometrium around the time of implantation. They are thought to play an important role in enabling implantation to occur.

Many studies have shown that women with fluid-filled closed tubes (closed hydrosalpinx), have half the pregnancy rate of other women with other types of tubal disease. Recently there have been two papers which have shown that removing those tubes surgically enhances the pregnancy rate with IVF. Bruce Lessey's group has shown that women with fluid-filled hydrosalpinx do not produce integrins as well as normal women. They have also shown that removing the fallopian tubes enables the uterus to produce these integrins.

There may also be other gynecological conditions that cause impaired integrin expression. Testing for integrins is now a clinically available test. However, if impaired integrins are present, other than the situation described above, we presently do not know how to change that situation. We also do not know if when impaired integrins are present during a test cycle, that they still be impaired during a stimulated IVF cycle.

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