Absence of correlation between follicular fluid volume and follicular granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, a predictor of embryo implantation and successful delivery

Abstract

Follicular granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) is a documented marker of embryo implantation potential. The primary objective was to determine whether follicular G-CSF levels correlate with follicular fluid volume. The secondary objectives were to assess whether follicular G-CSF is associated with oocyte maturity at the time of harvest and with delivery rate after fresh or frozen embryo transfer. Thirty-two patients undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles were recruited (Centre de Procréation Médicalement Assistée (CPMA), University of Liège, Belgium). A total of 211 follicular fluid (FF) samples were individually collected at the time of oocyte harvest. FF volume was recorded, and G-CSF concentration was assessed by ELISA. The embryos were individually cultured in vitro. Their implantation and live birth rates were recorded after fresh and frozen embryo transfers. The follicular fluid volume did not correlate with the follicular G-CSF concentration. There were no differences in follicular G-CSF levels between mature and immature oocytes. The probability of successful implantation and delivery was increased for embryos with FF containing a high G-CSF concentration. There was a trend toward lower follicular G-CSF levels in cases of miscarriage. Therefore, follicular fluid volume cannot be a substitute for follicular G-CSF as a marker of embryo implantation ability.

摘要

卵泡颗粒细胞集落刺激因子（G-CSF）是胚胎植入潜力的文献指标。本研究主要目的是确定卵泡G-CSF水平是否与卵泡液体积相关。次要目标是评估卵泡G-CSF是否与收获时卵母细胞的成熟以及新鲜或冷冻胚胎移植后的分娩率有关。招募了32名进行卵母细胞胞浆内单精子注射（ICSI）周期的患者（比利时列日大学医学辅助中心（CPMA））。在收集卵母细胞时, 总共单独收集了211个卵泡液（FF）样本, 记录FF体积, 并通过ELISA评估G-CSF浓度。将胚胎单独在体外培养。在新鲜和冷冻胚胎移植后, 记录移植率和活产率。卵泡液体积与卵泡G-CSF浓度不相关。成熟卵母细胞和未成熟卵母细胞的卵泡G-CSF水平无差异。卵泡液中G-CSF高水平会增加胚胎移植和分娩成功的可能性。流产病例有卵泡液G-CSF水平低的趋势。因此, 卵泡液体积不能替代卵泡液G-CSF而作为胚胎植入能力的指标。

The Chinese abstracts are translated by Prof. Dr. Xiangyan Ruan and her team: Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100026, China.

Keywords:

• Granulocyte colony-stimulating factor
• ELISA
• follicular fluid
• assisted reproductive technology
• embryo selection

Acknowledgements

LN and CM are respectively an MD-PhD student and research associate from the F.R.S.-FNRS (Belgium). The authors thank E. Kondarowski for the excellent technical assistance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Authors’ contributions

LN performed the experiments, interpreted the data and wrote the manuscript. AFD contributed to the statistical analysis. CJ contributed to patient recruitment and sample collection. SS contributed to the experimental work. NL designed the study and revised the manuscript. MN revised the manuscript. JMF and CM conceived and designed the study, interpreted the data, and wrote and corrected the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique – FNRS (F.R.S.-FNRS, Belgium), the Fonds Léon Fredericq (University of Liege), the Direction Générale Opérationnelle de l’Economie.