Concentrations of homocysteine in follicular fluid and embryo quality and oocyte maturity in infertile women: a prospective cohort

Author(s):  
Y. Razi ◽  
M. Eftekhar ◽  
F. Fesahat ◽  
R. Dehghani Firouzabadi ◽  
N. Razi ◽  
...  
KnE Medicine ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Budi Wiweko

<p><strong>Introduction </strong>Androstenedione (A4), testosterone (T), and dehidroepiandrosterone (DHEA) are known to be involved in folliculogenesis and follicular maturity. Lower follicular androgen levels in poor responder due to malfunctioned granulosa and theca cells and decreased inhibin B production will decrease FSH and LH. However, androgenic follicular fluid might also induce follicular atresia, decreased oocytes viability, thus affecting fertilization. The aim of current study is to find the correlation between intra-follicular androgen levels and fertilization rate, specifically in poor responder whom contributed in 84% cancelled cycle.</p><p><strong>Material and Methods </strong>This prospective cohort study was done at Yasmin IVF Clinic, Jakarta, Indonesia, in January 2014-March 2015. Infertile women undergone IVF were asked to participate, grouped into poor responder and other, and the androgen levels in the follicular fluid of each consenting patients were measured.</p><p class="DecimalAligned"><strong>Results </strong>From total 62 patients, aged 23-47 years old (37.6±5,068), there were 21 poor responders, whereas the other 41 patients with other indication. In poor responder group, levels of androstenedione, testosterone, and DHEA were 50.8 – 272.3 (103.5 ± 59.9), 383.2 – 1747.9 (1114.4 ± 373.2), 11.3 – 454.8 (151.3 ± 96.8), whereas in other group the androgen levels were 44.3 – 326.8 (95.1 ± 61.2), 414.1 – 1463.7 (976.9 ± 258.4), 44.6 – 265.8 (132.7 ± 61.3) with the correlation with fertilization rate 0.609, 0.095, and 0.361 respectively.</p><p class="DecimalAligned"> </p><p><strong>Conclusion </strong>Correlation between follicular androgen levels and fertilization rate found to be not significantly different. The low number of subjects might cause this result, as well as the presence of bias, e.g.male factor and endometriosis might also affect fertilization. A multi-center study with larger sample size added with thorough analysis is needed to reconfirm current data.</p>


Reproduction ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 129 (4) ◽  
pp. 531-534 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Anifandis ◽  
E Koutselini ◽  
K Louridas ◽  
V Liakopoulos ◽  
K Leivaditis ◽  
...  

We studied the concentration of serum estradiol and serum and follicular fluid leptin in 200 women undergoing their first in vitro fertilization with embryo transfer (IVF-ET) program at the time of human chorionic gonadotrophin administration and oocyte retrieval, in an attempt to assess their concerted role on embryo quality and the prognosis of IVF outcome. Low serum (46.49 ± 8.4 ng/ml) and follicular fluid (52 ± 9.8 ng/ml) leptin levels were associated with a high number of ‘good-quality’ embryos (73.6%) and high implantation (11.2%) and pregnancy (35.8%) rates and were observed in women with normal peak estradiol levels of between 1000 and 2000 pg/ml. It appears that leptin and estradiol interact coordinately in a concentration-dependent manner to control IVF outcome. Further studies will be required to substantiate and clarify the mechanism of proposed conditional interaction between the two hormonal systems.


1987 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 1185-1189 ◽  
Author(s):  
F Gulamali-Majid ◽  
S Ackerman ◽  
L Veeck ◽  
A Acosta ◽  
P Pleban

Abstract Nonsteroidal biochemical markers of oocyte maturity could presumably aid in oocyte selection and in the timing of insemination for in vitro fertilization. We assessed the usefulness of six potential markers found in follicular fluid. We used kinetic immunonephelometry to measure concentrations of alpha 1-antitrypsin, alpha 2-macroglobulin, antithrombin III, ceruloplasmin, fibrinogen, and plasminogen in 53 fluids and the corresponding plasma from 20 women undergoing in vitro fertilization. Specimens were obtained from both mature and immature follicles from each woman. The respective protein concentrations in follicular fluid could be assayed with a between-assay CV of 1.5% to 3.2%. Analytical-recovery studies indicated that only fibrinogen and antithrombin III concentrations were altered (by 120% and 75%, respectively) during aspiration of the follicle into saline. All protein concentrations were significantly increased in mature follicles, as were the follicular fluid:plasma concentration ratios for alpha 1-antitrypsin, antithrombin III, and ceruloplasmin.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
R A Nagy ◽  
I Homminga ◽  
C Jia ◽  
F Liu ◽  
J L C Anderson ◽  
...  

Abstract STUDY QUESTION Are levels of trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) in human follicular fluid (FF) related to IVF outcomes? SUMMARY ANSWER Higher levels of TMAO are a negative predictor of oocyte fertilization and embryo quality. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY TMAO is a metabolic product of dietary choline and l-carnitine produced via subsequent enzymatic modifications by the intestinal microbiota and hepatocytes. TMAO promotes inflammatory and oxidative stress pathways and has been characterized as a causative biomarker for the development of cardiometabolic disease. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION For the present cross-sectional study, samples (FF and plasma) from 431 modified natural cycle (MNC)-IVF cycles of 132 patients were collected prospectively between October 2014 and March 2018 in a single academic medical center. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS TMAO and its precursors (choline, l-carnitine and gamma-butyrobetaine) were measured by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry in (i) matched FF and plasma from 63 MNC-IVF cycles, in order to compare metabolite levels in the two matrices and (ii) FF from 232 MNC-IVF cycles in which only one oocyte was retrieved at follicular puncture. The association between metabolite levels and oocyte fertilization, embryo fragmentation percentage, embryo quality and the occurrence of pregnancy was analyzed using multilevel generalized estimating equations with adjustment for patient and cycle characteristics. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE The level of choline was higher in FF as compared to matched plasma (P &lt; 0.001). Conversely, the levels of TMAO and gamma-butyrobetaine were lower in FF as compared to plasma (P = 0.001 and P = 0.075, respectively). For all metabolites, there was a positive correlation between FF and plasma levels. Finally, levels of TMAO and its gut-derived precursor gamma-butyrobetaine were lower in FF from oocytes that underwent normal fertilization (TMAO: odds ratio [OR] 0.66 [0.49–0.90], P = 0.008 per 1.0-μmol/L increase; gamma-butyrobetaine: OR 0.77 [0.60–1.00], P = 0.047 per 0.1-μmol/L increase) and developed into top-quality embryos (TMAO: OR 0.56 [0.42–0.76], P &lt; 0.001 per 1.0-μmol/L increase; gamma-butyrobetaine: OR 0.79 [0.62–1.00], P = 0.050 per 0.1-μmol/L increase) than in FF from oocytes of suboptimal development. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION The individual contributions of diet, gut bacteria and liver to the metabolite pools have not been quantified in this analysis. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS More research on the contribution of diet and the effect of gut bacteria on FF TMAO is warranted. Since TMAO integrates diet, microbiota and genetic setup of the person, our results indicate potential important clinical implications for its use as biomarker for lifestyle interventions to improve fertility. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) No external funding was received for this project. The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the University Medical Center Groningen received an unrestricted educational grant of Ferring Pharmaceutical BV, the Netherlands. The authors have no other conflicts of interest. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER Netherlands Trial Register number NTR4409.


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