ANTIOVARIAN ANTIBODIES AND THEIR EFFECT ON THE OUTCOME OF ASSISTED REPRODUCTION

Purpose: To compare the presence in levels of antiovarian antibodies ( AOAb) in the pre- and postovulatory stage from serum of infertile pati ents undergoing intrauterine insemination (IUI) or in vitro fertilizat ion (IVF) with outcome of the procedures. Results: Serum from 36 women undergoing IUI, 36 women undergoing IVF and 25 fer tile, healthy cont rols were assayed for the presence of AOAb by a commercially available ELISA kit. AOAb was positive in 59.7% of infertile women, while none of the fertile controls were positive for AOAb. The levels of these an tibodies increased as the patient age and the number of treatment atte mpts increased. Though the presence of AOAb did not affect oocyte reco very rate, it resulted in decreased fertilization rate, cleavage rate, and pregnancy rate in infertile women. Conclusions: Our studies sugge st that AOAb may be a cause of infertility and presence of these antib odies could have adverse effects on the outcome of assisted reproducti ve techniques.