Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on May 16, 2008
Human Reproduction 2008 23(8):1884-1894; doi:10.1093/humrep/den183
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Distributions of high-density lipoprotein particle components in human follicular fluid and sera and their associations with embryo morphology parameters during IVF
1 Department of Biotechnical and Clinical Laboratory Sciences, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, 26 Cary Hall, 3435 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14214, USA 2 Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA 3 Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University at Albany, State University of New York, Rensselaer, NY, USA
4 Correspondence address. Fax: +1-716-829-3601; E-mail: rwbrowne{at}buffalo.edu
BACKGROUND: High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is the sole lipoprotein present in follicular fluid (FF). The objectives of this study were to examine HDL lipid composition and associated enzyme activities in FF and serum and to relate these levels to embryo morphology parameters in women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF).
METHODS: Serum and FF were prospectively obtained from 60 women undergoing IVF. HDL lipids, apolipoprotein AI (ApoAI), paraoxonase 1 (PON1) and paraoxonase 3 (PON3) activities were determined. Bivariate analysis and ordinal logistic regression models were employed to examine the associations between biochemical measures and embryo morphology parameters [embryo cell number (ECN) and embryo fragmentation score (EFS)] as surrogate markers of oocyte health.
RESULTS: All biochemical parameters were significantly (P < 0.05) lower in FF than serum except PON3 levels which were significantly higher. FF-HDL cholesterol (OR 0.66, 95%CI 0.46–0.96) and ApoAI (OR 0.13, 95%CI 0.03–0.97) levels were negative predictors for EFS; however, their effects were not independent and the level of one moderated the effect of the other. Limited to Day 3 embryo transfers, FF-PON1-arylesterase activity was a significant positive predictor for ECN (OR 1.09, 95%CI 1.01–1.17).
CONCLUSIONS: In this pilot study, our data suggests that HDL and its component proteins within FF may play protective roles in the health of the human oocyte and subsequent early embryo development. We describe for the first time the activities of PON1 and PON3 in FF. We suspect that PON3 activity may be locally generated due to higher activities in FF compared with serum.
Key words: high-density lipoprotein/follicular fluid/embryo cytoplasmic fragmentation/in vitro fertilization/paraoxonase
Submitted on January 31, 2008; resubmitted on April 2, 2008; accepted on April 16, 2008.