Ovarian interleukin profile and pregnancy outcome in women undergoing assisted reproduction: A prospective study

Abstract

Context: Ovarian interleukins (ILs) mediate folliculogenesis, gametogenesis, fertilization, embryo development and implantation. Aims: Evaluation of the role of the quantitative levels of follicular fluid (FF) IL-1Beta (1β), IL-10 and IL-12B (p-40 subunit) in women underwent assisted reproduction. Setting and Design: Prospective observational study conducted between July 2013 and August 2015 at University Hospital’s in vitro fertilization (IVF) set up in North India. Materials and Methods: Women (n = 168) were worked up for IVF/intracytoplasmic sperm injection-embryo transfer (ICSI-ET) cycles. FF samples were pooled and collected from ovarian follicles of size ≥16 mm for each woman on the day of oocyte retrieval. Quantitative levels of IL-1β, IL-10 and IL-12B were estimated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique. Quantitative levels along with demography, cycle characteristics, endometrial thickness, number of retrieved oocytes, fertilization rate and embryos quality were compared between pregnant and nonpregnant groups of women. Student T-test, Mann–Whitney U-test, chi-squares test and logistic regression were applied as appropriate. Statistical significance level was calculated at P Results: Women (n = 168) were divided into pregnant (Group A; n = 75) and nonpregnant (Group B; n = 93) groups. The median levels of IL-1β, IL-10 and IL-12B levels were found significantly lower in women in Group A as compared to Group B [41.2 pg/mL (1.7–370) vs. 78.5 (5.6–313.58); P Conclusion: Lower concentrations of IL-1β, IL-10 and IL-12B in FF were found in a protagonist with positive pregnancy outcome and can be served as a reliable predictive marker of successful IVF/ICSI-ET outcome in women underwent assisted reproduction.