Is serum-soluble vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 of importance in unexplained infertility?

Katja-Anneli Wathén, Leila Unkila-Kallio, Leila Unkila‐Kallio, Rita Isaksson, Aila Tiitinen, Ulf‐Håkan Stenman, Ulf-Håkan Stenman, Piia Vuorela
Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2008 · vol. 87(7) , pp. 738–744 · doi:10.1080/00016340802158321 · PMID:18607827 · W2100052671
Observational OA: closed CC0
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-13 ⓘ

This study found that elevated VEGF and altered VEGF/sVEGFR-1 ratios in infertile women during natural and IVF cycles may contribute to unexplained infertility by impairing implantation.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its naturally occurring circulating antagonist, soluble VEGF receptor-1 (sVEGFR-1), in infertility. VEGF is a key angiogenic factor in the endometrial and ovarian cyclic processes that are crucial for fertility and sVEGFR-1 impairs its function and fertility in animals - less is known as regards human fertility. DESIGN: Case-control study. SETTING: University Central Hospital, a tertiary referral center. POPULATION: Women with unexplained infertility (n=15) and fertile controls (n=10) had serial blood samples collected during their natural cycles, and the infertile women during a subsequent in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycle. METHODS: Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used for this study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Concentrations of VEGF and sVEGFR-1 in the natural cycles and of sVEGFR-1 during a subsequent IVF cycle. RESULTS: Plasma VEGF concentrations showed no cyclicity in fertile women, but were higher in the infertile group at the midluteal phase. Serum sVEGFR-1 concentrations were similar between the groups and between natural and IVF cycles. However, in infertile women, concentrations of sVEGFR-1 increased from the follicular phase to the luteal phase. In the follicular phase infertile women had a high ratio of VEGF/sVEGFR-1, which was decreased in the luteal phase. Both findings were associated with failure to achieve pregnancy in subsequent IVF cycles. CONCLUSIONS: One cause of unexplained infertility may be unbalanced secretion of sVEGFR-1 with concomitant changes in free VEGF during the transition from the follicular to the luteal phase. This aberration may be related to impaired implantation.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

infertility

MeSH descriptors

Infertility, Female Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1 Adult Case-Control Studies Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Female Fertilization in Vitro Humans Infertility, Female Menstrual Cycle Menstrual Cycle Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1

Citation neighborhood (2-hop)

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. Outer rings show 2-hop neighbours — papers reached through the immediate citers/citees. [ collapse to 1-hop ]

References (34)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-05-11T06:20:36.346967+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-10-08T21:05:36.063128+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK