The impact of FSH receptor polymorphism on time-to-pregnancy: a cross-sectional single-centre study.

BACKGROUND: Single nucleotide polymorphism of the follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) receptor (FSHR) is an important marker of ovarian function. However, its role in female fecundity remains debatable. The aim of the study to assess the relationship of FSHR polymorphism of Serine/Serine, Asparagine/Asparagine and Asparagine/Serine variants directly against the time-to-pregnancy (TTP) in women. METHODS: Data were collected from 291 consecutive selected post-partum Caucasians using this criterion: ethnicity, age between 21 and 34-year-old new mothers and, 0-3 days after delivery of newborns in the Klaipeda University Hospital, Lithuania. Questionnaires on factors associated with conception were given to patients, and blood samples were collected for genomic DNA extractions as well as for analysis of follicle-stimulating hormone receptor gene polymorphism. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for time-to-pregnancy were estimated by multivariate logistic regression. Women with unplanned pregnancies and those who received assisted reproductive technologies were not included in the study. RESULTS: After adjustment for other possible factors, increased risk for time-to-pregnancy of 12 or more months was associated with: Serine/Serine polymorphism variant (OR = 1.38, 95% CI 1.56-2.71, p = 0.007), age of 30 or more years (OR = 1.95, 95% CI 1.25-2.71, p = 0.015), gynaecological diseases in the past (OR = 2.21, 95% CI 1.12-5.74, p = 0.027), prior contraception use (OR = 1.87, 95% CI 1.14-3.64, p = 0.016), and fertility problems in the past (OR = 1.57, 95% CI 1.16-4.76, p = 0.019). CONCLUSION: The results suggest a possible relationship of FSH receptor gene Serine/Serine variant for the lower possibility of conception during the first 12 months of planned conception.

Cigarette smoking and waiting time to pregnancy: results of a pilot study.

Waiting time to pregnancy is an important characteristic of human reproductive health, which has not been investigated in Lithuania until now. Data on waiting time to pregnancy have been collected from medical records of 111 women admitted to the Department of Obstetrics, Klaipeda Hospital. Seven women in whom pregnancy was the result of infertility treatment were excluded from the analysis, and the rest 104 cases were analyzed. We evaluated waiting time to pregnancy in respect to the age of couples, contraceptive use, cigarette smoking of both partners, and some other features of obstetric history. The mean waiting time to pregnancy in the cohort was 5.21+/-7.03 months. If both partners smoked, the mean waiting time to pregnancy was significantly longer than in nonsmoking couples (7.68+/-9.41 vs. 4.30+/-5.73, P<0.05). Risk to have waiting time to pregnancy longer than 6 months was significantly higher if both partners smoked as compared to nonsmoking couples (OR 3.32, 95% CI 1.07-10.30, P=0.03), while paternal smoking and smoking of any partner did not increase this risk significantly. The other possible factors - age, living place (rural or city), previous contraceptive use, regularity of menstrual cycle, and frequency of intercourse - did not influence waiting time to pregnancy significantly. Results obtained from this pilot study enable us to plan and implement a larger-scale study of waiting time to pregnancy in Lithuanian population.