Ovarian drilling down-regulates endometrial nuclear factor-κB p65 expression in women with PCOS: A prospective case-control study

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of laparoscopic ovarian drilling (LOD) on the expression of endometrial NFκB p65 (Rel A) in women with clomiphene-resistant polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study group comprised 25 normal-weight women with PCOS undergoing LOD and 14 control women without PCOS. Endometrial NF-κB p65 levels evaluated before and after LOD following immunohistochemical staining. The semiquantitative method was used to evaluate the intensity of NF-κB p65 levels. NF-κB p65 was found to higher in the endometrium of patients with PCOS compared to controls. LOD leads to significant down-regulation in endometrial NF-κB p65 expression. NF-κB p65 expression of PCOS and fertile control were similar after LOD. After LOD, H-score values decreased approximately 3-fold. The H-score of the control subjects was lower than the preoperative and postoperative H-score values of the control women with ovarian cyst. RESULTS: Expression of endometrial NF-κB p65 did not change following ovarian cystectomy. The laterality of the ovarian cyst did not cause any change in preoperative H-score values. CONCLUSION: By downregulating the endometrial NF-κB p65 expression LOD improved physiological inflammation in women with PCOS.