Human Reproduction, Vol. 17, No. 4, 921-925,
April 2002
© 2002 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
Smoking induces oxidative stress inside the Graafian follicle*
1 3rd Chair and Department of Gynecology, Medical University of Lublin, Poland, 2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA 02115 and 3 Weill Medical College of Cornell University, Center for Reproductive Medicine and Infertility, NY, USA
BACKGROUND: A growing body of evidence indicates that pro-oxidant/antioxidant balance inside ovarian follicles plays an important role in folliculogenesis. Over 20% of women of reproductive age in Europe and the USA regularly smoke cigarettes. The impact of tobacco smoking on the intrafollicular markers of oxidative stress has not been fully elucidated. The objective of the present study was to test the hypothesis that cigarette smoking affects the intrafollicular redox milieu. METHODS: In follicular fluid samples originating from 108 IVF patients, lipid peroxidation was assessed by the thiobarbituric reactive substances method and total antioxidative capacity was quantified by the luminol enhanced chemiluminescence method. The level of patients' exposure to the cigarette smoke was evaluated by measuring the follicular fluid cotinine concentration by means of radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: Intrafollicular exposure to cigarette smoke metabolites was associated with a significant increase in follicular lipid peroxidation intensity (P < 0.001), which was accompanied by a significant decrease in the local antioxidative potential (P = 0.004). CONCLUSION: The results indicate that active smoking affects the pro-oxidant/antioxidant balance inside the pre-ovulatory ovarian follicle by inducing intrafollicular oxidative stress. This provides another possible explanation for impaired folliculogenesis in female smokers.
Key words: antioxidants/follicular fluid/lipid peroxidation/oxidative stress/smoking
* A portion of these studies was presented at the 15th FIGO World Congress, Copenhagen, Denmark, 6–8 August, 1997.
4 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: 3rd Chair and Department of Gynecology, Medical University of Lublin, SPSK-4,Jaczewskiego 8, 20-090 Lublin, Poland. E-mail: tompasz{at}eskulap.am.lublin.pl
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