Upregulation of Oxidative Phosphorylation Genes in Cumulus Cells of The Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Patients with or without Insulin Resistance

The relationship between oxidative stress (OS), insulin resistance (IR), and polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS) is an important medical issue in human reproduction. Some of the oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) geneshave been previously studied in granulosa and muscle cells of PCOS patients. Cumulus cells (CCs) remain close to theoocyte even after ovulation. This research has been designed to compare the expression of OXPHOS genes in CCs ofPCOS, with or without insulin resistance. In this experimental study, patients were included in PCOS insulin-resistant, PCOS insulinsensitive(IS), and control (fertile women with male infertility history) groups. The expression of NCF2, TXNIP, UCP2,NDUFB6, ATP5H, COX7C, NDUFA3, SDHA, and SDHB was studied by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR),aand normalization was performed considering HPRT1 and CYC1 as reference genes. One-way ANOVA and Tukey testwere used for data analysis. The results showed that the expression of NCF2, TXNIP, UCP2, and ATP5H was significantly higher in theIR group than IS and control groups (P<0.01). NDUFB6 showed the highest expression in the IS group, which wassignificantly different from other groups (P<0.01). The other genes of interest, except COX7C, were observed with themost transcriptional levels in the IS group, although there was no significant difference for those genes. Altered expression of genes involved in mitochondrial function compared to the control group in CCsof both IR and IS categories of the PCOS patients suggests that alteration in OXPHOS genes can contribute to thepathophysiology of PCOS.