ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between the concentrations of insulin-like growth factor-II (IGF-II), insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1, 3 (IGFBP-1, 3) in the follicular fluid and the cumulative embryo score (CES) in the patient who underwent in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 21 cycles of 18 patients which underwent IVF-ET cycle after controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) were included in this study. Using immunoradiometric assay (IRMA), we measured the concentrations of IGF-II, IGFBP-1, 3 in the follicular fluid. The patients were grouped into the pregnant and non-pregnant group. The concentrations of IGF-II, IGFBP-1, 3 in the follicular fluid were compared between the two groups and the correlations of the follicular concentrations of IGF-II, IGFBP-1, 3 and cumulative embryo score were evaluated. Results were analyzed with Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient and statistical significance was defined as p<0.05. RESULTS: There were no statistical significance in the follicular concentrations of IGF-II, IGFBP-1, 3 between the pregnant group and non-pregnant group. There were signifiant correlation between the follicular concentration of IGF-II and cumulative embryo score (p=0.001). There might be correlations between the follicular concentration of IGFBP-3, and free IGF-II and cumulative embryo score (p=0.053, p=0.056, respectively). CONCLUSION: The follicular IGF-II and free IGF-II might have an influence to development of good- quality embryos in patients undergoing IVF-ET.