Stanic Lab publishes in Frontiers in Immunology

Aleksander Stanic, MD, PhD, associate professor in the Divisions of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility and Reproductive Sciences, recently co-authored a publication published in Frontiers in Immunology. Soma Banerjee, PhD, currently a postdoctoral scholar in the iPEND program, was first author on the publication. Co-authors include Fernanda Leyva Jaimes; Mona Mohamed; Abigail Zettel; Nesya Graupe; and Laura Cooney, MD. 

In “High-dimensional immune profiling of follicular fluid and systemic circulation reveals distinct immune signatures in women with polycystic ovary syndrome”, the authors aimed to better understand the ovary’s local immune landscape as a result of chronic low-grade inflammation due to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The authors addressed this question by prospectively profiling paired blood and follicular fluid from IVF patients using multiplex cytokine/angiogenic assays, as well as high-dimensional flow cytometry with unbiased clustering. Across the cohort, blood at oocyte retrieval contained higher pro-inflammatory cytokines than follicular fluid, whereas follicular fluid was enriched for angiogenic factors.

Before treatment, PCOS patients had elevated circulating inflammatory cytokines that were partially corrected by the time of oocyte retrieval. Despite this systemic shift, the PCOS follicular compartment retained immune differences, including more classical monocytes and a trend toward increased CTLA-4–positive regulatory T cells (Tregs). 

“These results underscore the utility of comprehensive multiparametric analyses—including high-dimensional flow cytometry—to uncover immune dysregulation and identify potential therapeutic targets in PCOS.”

Read the whole article here.

**by Ob-Gyn Communications Intern Melis Baskaya