Objective: To observe the effects of Quyu Jiedu Granule, a compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine for removing blood stasis and expelling superficial evils, on the quality of oocytes and the expressions of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)and interleukin-6 (IL-6) mRNAs in ovarian granulosa cells of endometriosis (EM) rats.
Methods: Forty EM rats were randomly divided into two groups: experimental group and control group. There were 20 EM rats in each group. The uteri of another 20 SD rats were drawn in sham-operated group. The number and percentage of high quality oocytes and the levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6 mRNA expressions in the granulosa cells of EM rats were detected by using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.
Results: The number and percentage of high quality oocytes in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05), and the levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6 mRNAs in granulose cells in the experimental group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P<0.05).
Conclusion: The increase of the TNF-alpha and IL-6 mRNA expressions in ovarian granulose cells of EM rats leads to the decrease of the oocyte quality. The mechanism of Quyu Jiedu Granule in improving the quality of oocytes may be related to the decrease of TNF-alpha and IL-6 mRNA expressions in ovarian granulosa cells.