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Follicular fluid levels of vascular endothelial growth factor and early corpus luteum function during assisted reproductive technology cycles

Journal of Experimental & Clinical Assisted Reproduction volume 2, Article number: 13 (2005) Cite this article

Abstract

Background

The relation between vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and early luteal function has rarely been proven in humans. The purpose of this study was to define the relation between follicular fluid concentrations of VEGF (FF VEGF) and early luteal function at the preimplantation stage during assisted reproductive technology (ART) cycles.

Methods

71 women were divided into two groups, based on reproductive outcome: women who became pregnant after embryo transfer (ET) (n = 18, Group A) and non-pregnant women (n = 53, Group B). Serum progesterone (Se P) and inhibin A on ET day, and FF VEGF levels were measured in all women. Data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation. Statistical analysis was performed using Excel Office 98 for Student's t-test, linear regression test and chi-square test. A p value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results

The groups were comparable for age, ovarian reserve, number and quality of the oocytes retrieved and of the embryos obtained and transferred. FF VEGF levels were increased (4235 ± 1433 vs 3432 ± 1231 pg/ml), while Se P and inhibin A levels were significantly reduced (83.1 ± 34.1 vs 112.0 ± 58.8 ng/ml and 397.4 ± 223 vs 533.5 ± 283 pg/ml, respectively) in the non-pregnant group and were negatively correlated with FF VEGF (r = -0.482, p < 0.05; r = -0.468, p < 0.05) only in pregnant women.

Conclusion

Much has to be learned about the regulation and role of VEGF during the early luteal phase. We advance the hypothesis that the existence of a negative correlation between FF VEGF/Se P and FF VEGF/inhibin A in pregnant women might indicate the existence of a normal VEGF-mediated paracrine response when Se P and inhibin A levels are decreased. Excess production of FF VEGF and the absence of a correlation between FF VEGF/Se P and FF VEGF/inhibin A in non-pregnant women may be a paracrine reaction to immature luteal vasculature, resulting in luteal dysfunction.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Mario Rossi, L.T., Rinaldo Spallanzani L.T., Maria Grazia Ziveri B.Sc., and medical student Manuela Calabrese for their precious assistance in data collection.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Reproductive Medicine – Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Neonatology – University of Parma, 43100, Parma, Italy

    F Coppola, B Ferrari, L Barusi, V Caccavari, MC Salvarani & G Piantelli

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  1. F Coppola
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  2. B Ferrari
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  3. L Barusi
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  4. V Caccavari
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  5. MC Salvarani
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  6. G Piantelli
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to F Coppola.

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Competing interests

The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests.

Authors' contributions

FC have made substantial contributions to conception, design and interpretation of data. BF have made substantial contributions to interpretation of data. LB performed the statistical analysis. VC have made substantial contributions to acquisition of data.

MCS have made substantial contributions to acquisition of data. GP have been involved in revising the article critically.

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Open Access This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Coppola, F., Ferrari, B., Barusi, L. et al. Follicular fluid levels of vascular endothelial growth factor and early corpus luteum function during assisted reproductive technology cycles . J Exp Clin Assist Reprod 2, 13 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-1050-2-13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-1050-2-13

Journal of Experimental & Clinical Assisted Reproduction

ISSN: 1743-1050