A study led by Argentine scientists determined, for the first time, that the functioning of the ovaries is affected for at least nine months after having had covid-19, which could imply a reduction in the chances of conceiving naturally or through assisted reproductive techniques.
In the work, published in the journal Molecular Basis of Disease, the scientists from Conicet and the Institute of Biology and Experimental Medicine (Ibyme) say that they analyzed 80 patients from four fertilization centers divided into two groups: 34 with no history of covid and 46 who had gone through the disease asymptomatically or with the presence of mild symptoms between three and nine months before the study.
The study material was follicular fluids, which are obtained by aspiration to extract the ovules from the ovary and use them in assisted reproduction techniques. “In this liquid are the oocytes (immature eggs) before ovulation occurs. The discarded material is what we study and which is made up of a complex mixture of hormones, cytokines (proteins of the immune system), metabolites and other proteins released by ovary cells and that are important for the quality and development of the ovules” , explained the Ph.D. in Chemistry Fernanda Parborell, head of the Ovarian Physiopathology Studies Laboratory at the IByME, which depends on the Conicet.
Parborell explained to Télam that “for the analysis of the follicular fluid, a lot of parameters are analyzed, among them the vasculature (blood supply), which is what makes the ovary well nourished.”
The researcher explained that “one of the things that was observed is that a factor that is crucial for the growth of blood vessels in the ovary was decreased, which is the vascular endothelial growth factor or VEGF, which is a key molecule in regulation of endothelial cell proliferation.
They also found that the culture of human ovarian cells with the follicular fluids of women who had covid-19 produced lower levels of a key protein in ovarian function essential for egg development.
They also observed that IgG antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 were detected in 91% of the follicular fluids of post-Covid patients: “Although we do not yet know what effect it produces, we do know that it is very rare to observe immunoglobulins against pathogens in the follicular fluids; in addition, patients with higher levels of antibodies had a lower number of retrieved and mature oocytes”, added the scientists.
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