Abstract
Follicular fluid was aspirated from preovulatory follicles of women under ovarian stimulation for in vitro fertilization and analyzed by a highly specific technique based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry associated with stable isotope dilution. 19-Nortestosterone and 19-noradrostenedione were identified and quantified for the first time in human follicular fluid. There was a strong positive correlation between 19-nortestosterone and estradiol-17β and between 19-norandrostenedione and estrone concentrations, thus indicating a common cellular origin. The accumulation of 19-norsteroids in follicular fluid confirms that they are weakly active intermediates in the multistep enzymatic conversion of androgen to estrogen. Testosterone concentrations were significantly lower than those obtained by radioimmunoassay; cross-reaction with substantially higher levels of 19-nortestosterone seems to be at the origin of this discrepancy. Androstenedione concentrations were similar to those reported in the literature and it was therefore confirmed that an estradiol/androstenedione concentration ratio above 20 is favourable for oocyte cleavage. Other and some newly estimated androgens are: testosterone sulfate, 5-androstene-3β,17β-diol 3-sulfate and disulfate, dihydrotestosterone sulfate, epitestosterone, 19-hydroxy-androstenedione, 5α-androstane-3α,17β-diol, 5α-androstane-3β,17β-diol, 5α-androstane-3,17-dione and androsterone. Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate was by far the most abundant androgen in this type of follicles.
Published Version
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