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Can anti-ovarian antibody testing be useful in an IVF-ET clinic?

  • Assisted Reproduction Technologies
  • Published:
Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

To establish importance of anti-ovarian antibodies (AOA) testing in infertile women.

Design

A clinical reproductive outcome comparative study between two groups of women undergoing IVF-ET. Group 1 consists of women tested positive for AOA, put on corticosteroid therapy, reverted to AOA negative and then taken up for IVF-ET. Group 2 were seronegative for AOA.

Setting

Major urban infertility reference centre and National research institute.

Patient(s)

Five hundred seventy infertile women enrolled for IVF-ET.

Intervention(s)

AOA testing, corticosteroid therapy and IVF-ET/ICSI.

Main outcome measure(s)

Comparable clinical outcome and significance of AOA testing established.

Results

AOA positive serum samples were sent periodically to re-investigate presence of AOA after corticosteroid therapy and women turned AOA negative were taken up for IVF-ET. Of the 70/138 women in group 1 who were treated with corticosteroids and turned seronegative for AOA, 22/70 were poor responders and needed donor oocyte-recipient cycles. Results demonstrated that fertilization and clinical pregnancy rates between both groups are comparable. Nevertheless, it is also observed that there is poor response to stimulation protocol, smaller number of oocytes retrieved and more spontaneous abortions in group 1 women. Hence not all outcomes following the treatment are comparable between the two groups. Usefulness of the test was established in two case studies.

Conclusions

AOA testing could be included in the battery of tests investigating and treating infertility.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Mr. Manish Ghosalkar, Ms. Nina Chehna, Ms. Asmita Choudhury, Ms. Kalpana Venkat and Mr. Mahadeo Merchande for the technical assistance provided during the course of the study. One of us (ESP) would like to acknowledge the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi for providing financial assistance as senior research fellow. ESP was awarded the best poster presenter for this study at the ‘Recent trends in reproductive health research’ of the 18th annual meeting of Indian Society for the Study of Reproduction and Fertility (ISSRF-2008), Hyderabad, India. ESP also presented this work at the Frontiers in Reproductive Biology and regulation of fertility, Keystone Symposia (February 2009), Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.

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Author notes

  1. Eusebio S. Pires

    Present address: Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22908, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gamete Immuno Biology, National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health (ICMR), J M Street, Parel, Mumbai, 400 012, India

    Eusebio S. Pires, Purvi V. Mande & Vrinda V. Khole

  2. Department of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics, Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, 15 Dr. G. Deshmukh Marg, Pedder Road, Mumbai, 400 026, India

    Firuza R. Parikh, Shonali A. Uttamchandani & Sujata Savkar

Authors
  1. Eusebio S. Pires
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  2. Firuza R. Parikh
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  3. Purvi V. Mande
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  4. Shonali A. Uttamchandani
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  6. Vrinda V. Khole
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vrinda V. Khole.

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Capsule

Infertile women seeking assisted reproduction should have their serum tested for anti-ovarian antibodies prior to initiation of hormonal stimulation protocols. This would not only ensure efficacy of the IVF-ET but also save on the huge time and money invested on this protocol.

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Pires, E.S., Parikh, F.R., Mande, P.V. et al. Can anti-ovarian antibody testing be useful in an IVF-ET clinic?. J Assist Reprod Genet 28, 55–64 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-010-9488-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-010-9488-2

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