Endometrial delay is found to be part of a normal individual dynamic transformation process

Abstract

Purpose: Limited information is clinically available concerning endometrial receptivity; assessing endometrial transformation status is therefore an urgent topic in assisted reproductive technology. This study aimed to investigate individual endometrial transformation rates during the secretory phase in subfertile patients using personal endometrial transformation analysis. Methods: Monitoring was carried out during the secretory phase to obtain endometrial receptivity profiles. For the investigation, two endometrial biopsies were taken within one menstrual cycle. The extended endometrial dating was based on the Noyes criteria, combined with immunohistochemical analyses of hormone receptors and proliferation marker Ki-67. Biopsies were taken mainly at days ovulation (OV, n = 76)/hormone replacement therapy (HRT, n = 58) + 5 and + 10. Results: The results of the two biopsies were correlated with the clinically expected day of the cycle and showed temporal delays or hypercompensations, diverging from the expected cycle days by 0.5–5 days. In comparison with the first biopsies, the transformation rate in the second biopsies showed compensation, augmented delay, or constant transformation in 48.69, 22.37, and 28.94% of cases for ovulation in natural cycles and 56.89, 25.85, and 17.26% for HRT cycles, respectively. Conclusion: The study revealed an individually dynamic transformation process of the endometrium, with the ability to compensate or enlarge an initial “delay”, which is now identified as a normal individual transformation process during the secretory phase. This information is of great importance for the scientific investigation of dynamic changes in endometrial tissue, as well as for the timing of embryo transfers.