Dynamics of the development of multiple follicles by early versus late hCG administration in ART program.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate, in patients stimulated with recombinant FSH and GnRH antagonists, whether triggering the final maturation of oocytes affects IVF outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: Five hundred and six IVF procedures were divided into three groups according to the timing of hCG administration: when at least 2 follicles reached the diameter of 17 mm, at least 2 follicles reached 18 mm and at least 2 follicles reached 20 mm. The main outcome was the number of mature oocyte that was the dependent variable of a multivariate model whose independents were, age, AFC, hCG timing, E2 levels at hCG day, number of follicles in different categories of dimension. Secondary endpoints were to compare fertilization, implantation and pregnancy rates in a multilevel multivariate model whose covariates were age, BMI, AFC, embryo quality and cause of infertility. RESULTS: Timing did not result a statistically significant factor influencing the number of oocytes collected, which was influenced by age, AFC, number of follicles between 12.1 and 15.9 mm and E2 levels. Implantation rate and pregnancy rate appear to be affected only by embryo quality. CONCLUSION: The number of oocytes collected and the probability of pregnancy are not associated with the time of hCG administration.

Anti-laminin-1 antibodies in serum and follicular fluid of women with Hashimoto's thyroiditis undergoing in vitro fertilization.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the presence of anti-laminin-1 antibodies (aLN-1) in sera and follicular fluid (FF) of infertile women affected by Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) and its impact on oocyte maturation and IVF outcome. aLN-1 were measured by a home-made enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in: (1) sera and FF from 44 infertile women affected by HT (HTIW) with tubal factor or male factor as primary cause of infertility; (2) in sera and FF from 28 infertile women without HT, with tubal factor or male factor as cause of infertility (infertile controls-ICTR); and (3) in sera from 50 fertile women (FW). aLN-1 serum levels were significantly higher in HTIW when compared with both fertile women and ICTR (P <0.001and P <0.01, respectively). Assuming as cutoff the 99th percentile of values obtained in sera of FW, 43.2% of HTIW and 3.6% of ICTR were aLN-1 positive (P = 0.0001). Also aLN-1 detected in FF from HTIW were significantly higher in comparison with those found in FF of ICTR (P = 0.006). In HTIW, metaphase II oocyte count showed inverse correlation with both serum and FF aLN-1 levels (r = 0.34, P = 0.02 and r = 0.33, P = 0.03, respectively). Implantation and pregnancy rates were significantly lower in HTIW (7.9% and 9.1%, respectively) when compared with ICTR (23% and 31.1%, respectively) (P = 0.015 and P = 0.03, respectively). Our results demonstrated for the first time the presence of aLN-1 in a relevant percentage of HTIW and suggest that these auto-antibodies may impair IVF outcome.