Page 6 - P. Molecular medicine and imaging

[P. Molecular medicine and imaging-4]

Paeoniflorin Increases Endometrial Receptivity by

Upregulating the Expression of LIF and Adhesion Molecules

Hyerin Park¹, Hee-Jung Choi¹, Bo-Sung Kim¹, Sung-Jin Bae¹, Dongryeol Ryu², Ki-Tae Ha¹˙*

¹Korean Medical Science, Pusan National University School of Korean Medicine, Yangsan-si 50612, Republic of

Korea, ²Molecular Cell Biology, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Suwon-si 16419, Republic of Korea

Although recent progress of assisted reproduction technologies, many patients have been suffering from recurrent
implantation failure (RIF) to achieve pregnancy after embryo transfer. Among some types of RIF, endometrial RIF

defined as low endometrial receptivity and thin endometrium can be good therapeutic target of traditional herbal

medicine. To understand the endometrial RIF in genetic levels, we compared transcriptomic data from human
endometrium obtained from patients undergoing RIF to normal samples. First, we performed gene set enrichment
analysis using the NCBI GEO database, including GES71835, GES92324, GES26787, and GES4888. Twelve genes of

them had a positive correlation with leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), a well-known regulator of endometrial
receptivity. In our study, paeoniflorin, a major compound of P. lactoflora, enhanced embryo implantation in vitro

and in vivo via induction of the leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and several integrin molecules. Therefore, our results
suggest that paeoniflorin might be a potent candidate for ameliorating the endometrial RIF by enhancing

endometrial receptivity.