IL-17A concentration of seminal plasma and follicular fluid in infertile men and women with various clinical diagnoses

Abstract

Seminal plasma and follicular fluid (FF) cytokine analysis are valuable tools for diagnoses and validation of therapeutic approaches for improving the chance of conception. Despite the initial discovery over a decade ago, the IL-17 family has not received much attention in the case of infertility. In this study, we analyzed the level of IL-17A in seminal plasma, follicular fluid and blood serum of infertile patients with different clinical diagnoses by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). The results showed that the level of IL-17A was higher in seminal plasma and blood serum of varicocele patients than the control group. The level of this cytokine was higher in follicular fluid of endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and tubal factor patients than the control group. A similar elevation in IL-17A level was observed in blood serum of these patients. Furthermore, there was a correlation between the numbers of meiosis I (MI) oocytes and the level of blood serum and follicular fluid IL-17A in PCOS patients. Our data suggest a putative role of IL-17A in mediating these conditions and may have possible applications in the development of more effective diagnostic tools and therapeutic treatments for human reproductive disorders.

• Blood
• enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA)
• follicular fluid
• human IL-17A
• seminal plasma

Acknowledgements

We are in debt to Mrs. Tafakkori from the assisted reproduction technology (ART) lab for her helps in sample collection. We would also like to thank Mr. Mahouti for his invaluable technical assistance and Mr. Rooholamin and Dr. Dadvand for helps in statistical analysis.