Evaluation of Osteopontin Gene Expression in Endometrium of Diabetic Rat Models Treated with Metformin and Pioglitazone

Objective Osteopontin (Opn) is one of the co-factors which participates in cell adhesion and invasion during implantation process. Increased incidence of spontaneous abortion is reported in diabetic women. Several reports have shown Opn gene expression changes in diabetic condition in several tissues. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the effects of diabetes on Opn gene expression at implantation time after treatment with metformin and pioglitazone. MaterialsAndMethods Twenty eight rats were randomly divided into four groups, control, diabetic, pioglitazone-treated diabetic rats and metformin-treated diabetic rats. Streptozotocin (STZ) and nicotinamide (NA) was applied to induce type 2 diabetes. During implantation window, the endometrium was removed and Opn gene expression was evaluated using quantitative real- time polymerase chain reaction. Results Osteopontin mRNA expression was significantly higher in diabetic group in comparison to the control subjects (p value=0.04). Furthermore the expression of Opn gene was significantly lower in diabetic group treated with pioglitazone (p value=0.04) compared to diabetic group. Conclusion According to the high Opn gene expression and the possibility of increased adhesion of endometrial epithelial cells, the invasion of blastocyst may be affected and reduced. As pioglitazone significantly improved the Opn gene expression in diabetic rats, it may be considered as a compound to struggle against this problem.