Effect of Activin A, Follistatin and Fibrillin-3 Hormones on Pregnancy Rate in IVF Programs

Objectives: The aims of this study were to measure the levels of Activin-A, Follistatin, and Fibrillin-3 hormones at different phases of the menstrual cycle in a controlled ovarian stimulation program and to elucidate the correlation between the levels of these hormones and the pregnancy rate (PR) following intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycle. Patients, Materials and Methods: Two hundred women undergoing ICSI treatment were chosen randomly. Controlled ovarian stimulation was done with two different protocols, measurements of Activin-A, Follistatin and Fibrillin-3 were performed in different phases of the menstrual cycle in serum and in follicular fluid. Results: There was a significant correlation between Activin-A hormone level in the late luteal phases of the ICSI cycle and the PR with a predictive cut-off value of 18.675 pg/ml (0.735,0.833) for women on short GnRH-antagonist (GnRHant) protocol and 22.530 pg/ml (0.483,0.900) for women using the long GnRH-agonist (GnRH-a) protocol in the late luteal phase. There was a significant difference in early-phase Follistatin hormone level between pregnant and nonpregnant women in the long protocol, as well as a significant difference of the mid-phase hormone level in the short protocol (P <0.05). Conclusions: The current study concluded that Activin-A hormone can be considered as a biomarker indicator for diagnosing early pregnancy at luteal phase of ICSI cycles. No correlation was found between Follistatin and Fibrillin-3 hormones with pregnancy rate.