Abstract

ROLE OF FIBRILLIN-3 ON FERTILIZATION CAPACITY OF INFERTILE WOMEN IN ICSI CYCLE

Saad Al-Dujaily*, Rasha Abas, Wim Decleer, Bushra Al-Musawi, Abdul-Razak Al-Nakash

Abstract

Background: The growth and maturation of the oocyte and follicle are influenced by many paracrine and growth factors like fibrillin-3 hormone. However, there is lack of understanding its function and how interact in IVF programs. Objectives: The aims of this study were to measure the level of Fibrillin-3 hormone at different phases of the menstrual cycle in controlled ovarian stimulation program and to elucidate the correlation between the levels of this hormone with the number of the oocytes, the number of metaphase II oocytes, and the pregnancy rate following ICSI cycle. Materials and Methods: Two hundred women undergoing ICSI treatment were chosen randomly. Controlled ovarian stimulation was done with two different protocols, measurements of serum Fibrillin-3 (ng/ml) were done on different phases of the cycle and also in follicular fluid. Intra cytoplasmic sperm injection was done, the oocyte, embryo development, and pregnancy rate were determined in relation to the levels of this hormone. Results: No statistical significant (P>0.05) difference was observed in the fibrillin-3 levels for any combination of stimulation protocol and cycle phase. The AUC values for fibrillin-3 are maximum 0.6, indicating that this hormone has little predictive use for the pregnancy prediction. Conclusion: This hormone has little predictive use for the pregnancy prediction in ICSI cycle.

Keywords: Fibrillin-3, ICSI, Controlled ovarian stimulation.