Patterns of Endometrial Immune Remodeling Following Intrauterine Platelet-Rich Plasma Administration Are Associated with Baseline Macrophage Abundance
Jinahn Safir, Dimitar Parvanov, Margarita Ruseva, Rumiana Ganeva, Maria Handzhiyska, Sofia Koristashevskaya, Ivan Pavlov, Teodora Tihomirova, Stela Chapanova, Dimitar Metodiev, Blaga Rukova, Georgi Stamenov, Savina HadjidekovaPlatelet-rich plasma (PRP) has emerged as a regenerative therapy for improving endometrial receptivity, although its effects on the endometrial immune microenvironment remain poorly understood. This prospective paired-sample study investigated changes in the endometrial immune microenvironment following intrauterine PRP administration during the window of implantation. Twenty-seven women undergoing assisted reproductive treatment provided paired endometrial biopsies before and after PRP administration. Stromal CD3+ T lymphocytes, CD4+ T-helper lymphocytes, CD56+ natural killer cells, and CD68+ macrophages were quantified by immunohistochemistry and digital image analysis. No significant overall changes in CD3+, CD4+, CD56+, or CD68+ cell abundance were observed after PRP administration (all p > 0.05). Nevertheless, exploratory analysis of individual paired trajectories showed that 77.8% of patients met the study-specific criterion for a coordinated immune remodeling pattern, defined as a concordant increase or decrease in at least three of the four analyzed immune cell populations. Patients with a coordinated-increase pattern had lower baseline CD68+ macrophage abundance than those with a coordinated-decrease pattern, with a large standardized effect size (Hedges’ g = 1.28) and nominal statistical significance (p = 0.04). However, this association did not remain significant after FDR correction (q = 0.165). These findings indicate heterogeneous, patient-specific patterns of endometrial immune-cell change following intrauterine PRP administration and suggest that baseline macrophage abundance may represent a candidate factor associated with subsequent immune remodeling patterns. The coordinated-remodeling classification and its association with baseline macrophage abundance should be considered exploratory and hypothesis-generating.