P. Wass et al., AN ANDROID BODY-FAT DISTRIBUTION IN FEMALES IMPAIRS THE PREGNANCY RATE OF IN-VITRO FERTILIZATION-EMBRYO TRANSFER, Human reproduction, 12(9), 1997, pp. 2057-2060
To assess if the waist:hip ratio (WHR) is associated with the pregnanc
y rate (PR) in in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer, waist
and hip girths, in addition to height, weight, body mass index (BMI),
indications for IVF, PR and other related variables, were measured in
220 women undergoing IVF-embryo transfer, Three variables were signif
icantly negatively associated with PR; high age, smoking and WHR >0.80
. Women with WHR between 0.70-0.79 had a PR of 29.9% as compared to 15
.9% in women with WHR >0.80 [odds ratio 0.42, 95% confidence interval
(CI) 0.2-0.9, P = 0.03], There were no correlations between BMI and PR
, nor were there any significant differences for the indications for I
VF-embryo transfer, number of oocytes or oocyte fertilization rate, cl
eavage rate and number of embryos transferred. The association between
a low PR and WHR >0.80 remained unchanged after adjustment for age, B
MI, smoking, indication for IVF, parity and number of embryos transfer
red. In IVF-embryo transfer, fertilization is a laboratory and clinica
lly controlled process, until the embryo is transferred to the uterus,
Possible reasons for our finding of a decreased PR in women with an a
ndroid body fat distribution include a different endocrinological and
biochemical milieu for the oocyte in the growing follicle, oocytes of
poor quality, or endometrial changes due to hormonal dysfunction.