Intracytoplasmic sperm injection includes ovarian stimulation to retrieve mature oocytes, fertilize them by sperms and then embryo transfer after endometrial preparation.GDF-8 is a growth factor belonging to the transforming growth factor- β (TGF-β) superfamily that found to be highly expressed in the female reproductive system in addition to its first discovered site of release from myocytes and showed to have a dynamic trend, regulatory role and negative correlation with progesterone serum levels during controlled ovarian stimulation (COS).
Aim:
The aim of this study was to investigate the role of GDF-8 in regulating progesterone levels during controlled ovarian stimulation in patients undergoing IVF-ICSI- ET and evaluate its effect on pregnancy rate.
Patients and Methods:
42 women undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection are enrolled in a prospective cohort study. Patients are selected with the fulfillment of the inclusion criteria.
GDF-8 and progesterone (P4) serum levels both were measured in this study at 3 different time points during COS, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) administration day, oocyte pick up (OPU) day and 14 days after embryo transfer.