ABSTRACT
Our objective was to examine the feasibility of hair cortisol concentrations (HCC) as a biomarker to predict clinical pregnancy outcomes and investigate its potential associations with perceived anxiety, resilience, and depressive symptoms. A total of 43 participants were assessed using HCC, the state trait anxiety inventory (STAI), resilience scale (RS), and the depression subscale of the symptom checklist 90-R (SCL-90-R). Participants were approached at their second consultation with the reproductive endocrinologist (T1), before scheduling their IVF cycle, and then 12 weeks after (T2), at their post-transfer visit with the study coordinators, before the human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) pregnancy test. The logistic regression model revealed that HCC at T2 predicted 46% of a positive pregnancy test [R2 = 0.46, (ß = 0.11, p < 0.05)]. Pregnant women had higher levels of resilience at T2 (M = 149.29; SD = 17.56) when compared with non-pregnant women at T2 (M = 119.96; SD = 21.71). Significant differences were found between both groups in depression at T2 (t = 3.13, p = 0.01) and resilience at T2 (t = -4.89, p = 0.01). HCC might be a promising biomarker to calculate the probability of pregnancy in women using assisted reproductive technologies (ART).
Subject(s)
Biomarkers , Hair/chemistry , Hydrocortisone , Pregnancy Complications , Reproductive Techniques, Assisted , Adult , Biomarkers/analysis , Feasibility Studies , Female , Fertilization in Vitro , Humans , Hydrocortisone/analysis , Pregnancy , Pregnancy Outcome , Stress, PsychologicalABSTRACT
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To review the latest findings about the impact of women's physiological stress on fertility treatment outcomes and the main biomarkers used. RECENT FINDINGS: Women with infertility report high levels of distress that can impact their treatment outcome. The combination of multiple methodologies in psychological stress evaluation result in higher validity, precision and richness in the data. Hair cortisol levels seem to be a promising biomarker to be associated to treatment outcomes. SUMMARY: The impact of distress on treatment outcome can be assessed with the help of biomarkers. Decreasing burden of treatment may lead to relevant improvements in assisted reproductive technology outcome.
