title: Adiponectin as a marker of success in intracytoplasmic sperm injection/embryo transfer cycles.
abstract: Adiponectin (Acrp30) is an adipose tissue-derived protein whose serum concentrations, in contrast to leptin, are reported to be negatively correlated to body mass. In spite of the comparatively high circulating adiponectin concentrations, this protein has not been studied in the context of assisted reproduction to date. The aim of this preliminary project was thus to examine the potential of adiponectin to serve as a marker for fertility. We compared adiponectin levels in serum before and after controlled ovarian hyperstimulation, as well as in follicular fluid (FF), between two groups: those with successful outcome (clinical pregnancies) and those with implantation failure. In the former, adiponectin concentrations were higher than in the negative outcome group; this difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05) in serum on the day of oocyte pick-up (OPU) as well as two or three days before OPU, but not in FF or in serum at the beginning of the stimulation phase. This finding adds a new perspective to the suggested but still controversial reduction in FF leptin concentrations in the positive outcome group, and may become a useful tool for early prediction of success of in vitro fertilization treatment for a given patient.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Berne, Berne, Switzerland. nick.bersinger@dkf.unibe.ch
authors.forename: Nick A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Bersinger
authors.forename: Martin H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Birkhäuser
authors.forename: Dorothea M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Wunder
mesh_terms: D052242:Adiponectin / Q000097:blood*; D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers; D004624:Embryo Transfer; D004958:Estradiol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood; D011247:Pregnancy; D020554:Sperm Injections, Intracytoplasmic
chemical_list: D052242:Adiponectin; D015415:Biomarkers; D020738:Leptin; D004958:Estradiol