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Hum. Reprod. Advance Access published online on June 13, 2006
Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/humrep/del217
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received December 7, 2005
Revised May 3, 2006
Accepted May 12, 2006

Article

Ovarian follicular concentration of IL-12, IL-15, IL-18 and p40 subunit of IL-12 and IL-23

Sanja Vujisic 1 *, Snjezana Zidovec Lepej 2, Ivana Emedi 3, Renato Bauman 1, Anica Remenar 2, and Mirjana Kujundzic Tiljak 4

1 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical School, University of Zagreb, "Sveti Duh" Hospital, Zagreb, Croatia
2 Division of Cellular Immunology (Flow Cytometry), University Hospital for Infectious Diseases "Dr Fran Mihaljevic", Zagreb, Croatia
3 Medical Intertrade, Zagreb, Croatia
4 School of Public Health, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sanja Vujisic, E-mail: sanja_vujisic{at}hotmail.com


  Abstract

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to determine the presence of interleukin (IL)-12, IL-15, IL-18 and p40 subunit of IL-12/IL-23 in follicular fluid from spontaneous cycles and the relation between the concentration of selected cytokines and IVF-embryo transfer outcome. METHODS: IVF-embryo transfer and enzyme immunoassay (EIA) (R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN, USA and MBL, Nagoya, Japan) were used. RESULTS: Follicular fluid of women included in the IVF-embryo transfer procedure contained common p40 subunit of IL-12/IL-23 (median 70.1 pg/ml), IL-15 (median 1.3 pg/ml) and IL-18 (median 38.2 pg/ml). There was a significant negative correlation between follicular fluid concentrations of IL-15 and IL-18 (R = -0.392, P = 0.003). Significantly higher concentrations of common p40 subunit of IL-12/IL-23 (median 79.8 pg/ml) were found in the follicular fluid taken from follicles containing oocytes, when compared with those without an oocyte (median 44.5 pg/ml, P = 0.006). Patients who achieved clinical pregnancy had significantly decreased concentration of IL-15 (median 0.8 pg/ml) compared with patients without successful IVF-embryo transfer outcome (median 1.4 pg/ml, P = 0.047). CONCLUSION: Follicular fluid collected from spontaneous cycles contains detectable levels of p40 subunit of IL-12/IL-23, IL-15 and IL-18. Increased concentrations of p40 subunit of IL-12/IL-23 in follicles containing oocytes suggest an important role of this cytokine in reproduction. Possible negative value of IL-15 as a predictor of IVF-embryo transfer success remains to be determined.

Keywords: cytokines/follicular fluid/IL-12/IL-15/IL-18/subunit p40 IL-12 and IL-23.
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