Evidence mapPaperPMID 40323182Full record

ArticleAmerican journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism2025

Novel link between plasma bilirubin and anti-inflammatory miRNA profiles in follicular fluid of IVF patients.

Natascha Berger, Anna Rieder, Katharina Brugger, Bettina Amtmann, Martina Kollmann, Irmgard Oreskovic, Slave Trajanoski, Ursula Hiden, Herbert Fluhr

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in American journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Natascha BergerDepartment of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.ORCID 0000-0002-2865-1142
Anna RiederDepartment of Biomedical Science, Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, Klagenfurt, Austria.
Katharina BruggerDepartment of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
Bettina AmtmannDepartment of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
Martina KollmannDepartment of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
Irmgard OreskovicDepartment of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
Slave TrajanoskiCore Facility Computational Bioanalytics, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
Ursula HidenDepartment of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.ORCID 0000-0001-8009-020X
Herbert FluhrDepartment of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.

Funding

Austrian Science Fund (FWF) 10.55776/KLI1023Austrian Science Fund FWF KLI 1023
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Maternal metabolic factors are increasingly recognized as critical preconceptional determinants of fertility outcomes. To investigate how metabolic health influences female fertility, we investigated the molecular composition of follicular fluid (FF), with a focus on microRNA (miRNA) expression. Blood and FF samples from 15 women undergoing controlled ovarian stimulation were examined in a pilot study. Clinical traits (glucometabolic markers, lipid profiles, liver function markers, inflammatory cytokines, and hormonal parameters) and oocyte outcomes were measured and recorded. Elevated plasma bilirubin levels were associated with a distinct miRNA profile in FF, characterized by an enrichment of anti-inflammatory miRNAs, including miR-146a-5p, miR-146b-5p, miR-487b-3p, and miR-21-5p. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that these miRNAs directly target key inflammatory mediators, including interleukin-6, cyclooxygenase 2, Toll-like receptor 4, interleukin 1 receptor-associated kinase 1, and nuclear factor kappa β1, suggesting a regulatory role in intrafollicular inflammation. Furthermore, patients with a fertilization rate of ≤50% exhibited higher transcript levels of miRNAs associated with elevated plasma bilirubin. Our findings provide a novel perspective on the growing body of evidence supporting bilirubin's regulatory properties, including antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects, and highlight the relationship between plasma bilirubin and FF miRNA expression. The observed associations between bilirubin levels, follicular fluid miRNA composition, and oocyte quality underscore the critical influence of metabolic factors on reproductive outcomes. This exploratory work provides a foundation for further studies to investigate the functional role of plasma bilirubin in follicular physiology and its potential as a biomarker to optimize fertility treatments.

Indexed as

BilirubinFertilization in VitroFollicular FluidMicroRNAsAdultFemaleHumansInfertility, FemaleInflammationOvulation InductionPilot ProjectsPregnancyBilirubinMicroRNAsbilirubinfertilityfollicular fluidIVFmiRNA

Identifiers

PMID40323182
PMCPMC7617750

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.