Biochemical Markers Aid Endometrial Function Test

An endometrial function test (EFT) utilizes two new biochemical markers, cyclin E and p27, shown in a study to affect endometrial health. The study was published in the July 2003 issue of Fertility and Sterility.

In the study, the researchers looked at 33 fertile volunteers, 83 women seeking fertility treatment, and 23 women undergoing mock cycles in preparation for frozen or donor embryo transfer. They compared the expression of cyclin E and p27 in these groups at different times throughout the menstrual cycle to establish normal and abnormal patterns of expression of the markers in the endometrium.

"Fertile women expressed cyclin E in their glands up to about cycle day 19, and then did not have any after that,” said Harvey J. Kliman, M.D., a research scientist in the department of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences at Yale School of Medicine (New Haven, CT, USA), who invented the test. "Infertile women, on the other hand, much more frequently expressed cyclin E well after cycle day 19, often to the end of their cycle. The stroma in both groups was the same. These results suggest that infertile women have a defect in the way the stroma communicates with the glands.”

Dr. Kliman stated that the two new markers he used in his study are more effective at assessing endometrial health than the other markers studied to date or methods in current use. The test is currently available only at Yale, he noted. Meanwhile, Dr. Kliman's group is awaiting the clinical outcomes from more than 800 patients who have had EFTs, in order to determine the statistical significance and predictive value of a normal versus abnormal EFT result.




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