THE PREDICTIVE VALUE OF BASAL FOLLICLE-STIMULATING AND GROWTH-HORMONELEVELS AS DETERMINED BY IMMUNOFLUOROMETRY DURING ASSISTED REPRODUCTION

Purpose: Our purpose was (a) to investigate relationships of baseline endocrine serum levels with selected assisted reproduction (AR) parame ters and (b) to evaluate the clinical applicability of an immunofluoro metric assay (IFMA) as an alternative to a radioimmunoassay (RIA). Met hods: Basal endocrine values (analyzed by RIA-rFSH, rLH, and rE(2); an alyzed by IFMA-fFSH, fLH, and fGH) were determined for female patients (n = 142) preceding ovarian stimulation for AR. Results: Specific AR parameters correlated significantly with RIA- and IFMA-determined FSH levels, although IFMA correlations consistently exceeds that of RIA. C utoff values of fFSH greater than or equal to 11.68 IU/L or rFSH great er than or equal to 15.0 IU/L indicated a poor response. The high-basa l fFSH group was older (34 vs 31 years; P = 0.0334) and yielded fewer oocytes (2.9 vs 4.6 oocytes; P = 0.0018) than the low-basal fFSH group (< 11.68 IU/L). Lower cumulative embryo scores and conception rates w ere also associated with the high-fFSH group, compared to the low-fFSH group. Conclusions: This study confirms the negative impact of elevat ed basal FSH levels on AR. Basal LH, GH, and E(2) levels are, in compa rison to baseline FSH levels, unsuitable indices for estimating ovaria n responsiveness. IFMA can be regarded as an alternative to RIA in bot h clinical and research laboratories.