A new method to assess oxidative stress in ART cycles

Abstract

The role of oxidative stress (OS) in female reproduction is an understudied area for investigation. The aim of the study was to assess reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels both in follicular fluid (FF) and in serum samples of women undergoing IVF and to relate them to clinical outcomes. A total of 56 women were enrolled. From each patient a sample of serum and FF were collected at oocyte retrieval day and analyzed for OS, by measuring a class of reactive oxygen metabolites (ROMs) (dROMs test) and for biological anti-oxidant potential levels (BAP test). The data analyzed in serum and in FF were related to pregnancy outcomes. There was no significant relationship between d-ROMs and BAP levels in serum or FF GROUP A and B and the clinical parameters of prognosis of women: age, number of oocytes retrieved number of oocytes methaphase II, FSH, fertilization rate and cleavage rate, number of embryos transferred and embryo score. There was a positive association between systemic levels of OS measured in serum GROUP A and pregnancy outcomes (p = 0.007) suggesting that the evaluation of OS in FF needs more investigation about markers in follicular microenvironment in order to predict IVF success.

Chinese abstract

女性生殖中氧化应激（oxidative stress, OS）的作用是一个正在研究的领域。本研究的目的在于评估IVF周期中女性卵泡液（follicular fluid, FF）与血清中活性氧（reactive oxygen species, ROS）的水平，并分析其与临床结局的相关性。研究共纳入56名患者。每位患者的血清与FF均在卵母细胞抽取当天取样，并通过测定活性氧代谢物（reactive oxygen metabolites, ROMs）（d-ROMs test）及生物抗氧化潜能水平（biological anti-oxidant potential levels, BAP test）分析OS情况。分析血清与FF数据与妊娠结局的相关性。结果显示，血清或FF中d-ROMs和BAP水平与以下临床指标没有显著的相关性：年龄，取得的卵母细胞数及中期卵母细胞数，FSH，受精率及卵裂率，胚胎移植数目及胚胎评分。血清组A中测定的OS系统水平与妊娠结局存在显著的相关性（p = 0.007），提示FF中OS的分析需要更多关于卵泡微环境中标志物的研究，进而预测IVF是否成功。

• Assisted reproductive technology cycles
• biological anti-oxidant potential
• follicular fluid
• oxidative stress
• reactive oxygen metabolites
• serum

Acknowledgements

The Authors thank Mauro Carratelli, Diacron International.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no declarations of interest.