This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Elevated follicular oleic acid may contribute to infertility for obese patients with PCOS
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Polycystic ovary syndrome was associated with significantly higher free androgen levels and insulin resistance as well as increased infertility, according to study results published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Findings showed that elevated oleic and stearic acid concentrations in obese patients with PCOS may contribute to poor oocyte quality, embryo fragmentation and infertility.
Researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China designed a study that would determine the effect of free fatty acid metabolism in plasma and follicular fluid on fertility outcomes in obese and healthy-weight women with PCOS who were undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). Data were gathered on 93 women undergoing IVF treatment, wherein 55 women had PCOS and 38 were age-matched controls. The women with PCOS were divided into obese and nonobese groups based on BMI.
IVF treatment included individual doses of gonadotropins, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and/or human menopausal gonadotropin starting at day 2 or 3 of the menstrual cycle. The researchers evaluated morphological embryo quality via embryo cell number and percentage of fragmentation on day 3. Researchers also collected data on serum sex hormones, including FSH, luteinizing hormone, estradiol and testosterone.
Data showed that both the obese and nonobese women with PCOS had higher levels of luteinizing hormone/FSH, total testosterone, free androgen index (FAI) and lower sex hormone-binding globulin (P<.05).
Obese women with PCOS showed significantly higher total testosterone, FAI, fasting insulin, insulin resistance index and lower SHBG levels than nonobese women with PCOS (P<.05).
Embryo fragmentation score was positively associated with the oleic acid concentration for all PCOS patients (r= 0.22, P=.04 in nonobese women; r=0.25, P=.03 in obese women).
Previously published studies had demonstrated that changes in fatty acid content in follicular fluid affect oocyte quality, with possible links to follicular lipid metabolism, the researchers noted. This study served to further examine which fatty acids may prove harmful in excess for the developing embryo.
“Importantly, our results indicated that oocyte developmental competence is associated with oleic and stearic acid concentrations, which may contribute to the mechanisms of poor pregnancy outcomes in patients with PCOS,” the researchers wrote.
Disclosure: The researchers reported no relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts