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| |  Oestradiol and Testosterone Levels in Follicular Fluid Are Markers of Oocyte Health: Presented at ASRM By Crina Frincu-Mallos, PhD WASHINGTON, D.C. -- October 23, 2007 -- The hormonal profile of follicular fluid yielding eggs which eventually degenerate is markedly different from that resulting in normal fertilisation, researchers reported here at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). Follicular hormone levels in fertilised versus degenerated oocytes shows that, among the hormones tested, oestradiol and testosterone are significantly lower in concentration in the degenerated oocyte, according to lead author Julie D. Lamb, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States. In Dr. Lamb's study, oestrogen levels were 359.1 +- 211.6 pg/mL fertilised oocytes and 596.4 +- 354.7 pg/mL in degenerated oocytes (P =.024), while testosterone levels were 362.4 +- 344.9 ng/dL versus 563.8 +- 257.8 ng/dL (P =.002), respectively. Dr. Lamb -- recipient of the Third Prize Award for Poster Presentations given by ASRM this year-- discussed these findings in an interview here on October 16. In their prospective cohort study, Dr. Lamb and colleagues accrued a total of 91 patients and collected 163 follicular fluid samples by transvaginal ultrasound-guided aspiration of the hyperstimulated ovary. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and the subsequent culture of injected oocytes and embryos were performed individually. The researchers examined follicular fluid samples and looked at the differences in concentration and ratios between sex hormones and the pituitary hormones, mainly examining differences in those eggs that fertilised versus those eggs that degenerated and died after ICSI, said Dr. Lamb. Multivariate analysis was performed using logistic regression models. Hormone concentration levels and ratios were normalised by taking the square root and adjusting for follicular volume. "The hormone profile of the follicular fluid that yielded the 'good egg' that ended up fertilising vs the egg that degenerated, we found [to be] different, distinctly different, mainly in oestradiol and testosterone," remarked Dr. Lamb. In addition, she said, "the decrease in the granulosa cell steroid products suggests that supporting cells are failing despite normal gonadotropin stimulation." "We have a lot of more work to do... we'll continue to collect patients and try to answer some of the questions about the differences [observed in oestradiol and testosterone levels]," said Dr. Lamb. These results "might suggest, in the future, potential modalities and methods to pick an oocyte that is going to be competent," concluded Dr. Lamb, and open the potential "to optimise stimulation regimens, or optimise oocyte health."
[Presentation title: Oocyte Health: Importance of the Follicular Microenvironment Abstract 571]
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