Follicular Fluid IL-6 Levels in Prediction of Successful Pregnancy Outcome in Women Undergoing IVF-ET Cycles - A Prospective Study

Objective To investigate expediency of quantitative levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) detected in follicular fluid (FF) of women underwent in-vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) cycles. Design Prospective observational study. Method Study comprises evaluation of IVF/ICSI-ET cycles in relation to contribution of quantitative levels of IL-6. FF samples were collected on day of oocyte retrieval by pooling ovarian follicles of size 15mm for each woman (n=168). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique was applied for measuring quantitative level of IL-6. Demography, cycle characteristics, endometrial thickness, number of oocytes, fertilization rate, grading of embryos and IL-6 levels were compared between pregnant and non-pregnant groups of women. Student T-test, Mann Whitney U-test, Chi-squares test and logistic regression were applied as appropriate. Statistical significant level was calculated at Pless than0.05. Results The women (n=168) were divided into pregnant (Group-A, n=75) and non-pregnant (group-B, n=93) groups. The median level of IL-6 was found lower in group-A as compared to women in group-B [33.9 pg/mL (0.1-199.8) versus 92.9 pg/mL (0.3-199.8), Pless than0.001 respectively]. Conclusions Lower concentration of IL-6 in follicular fluid was found associated with positive pregnancy outcome and served as reliable predictive marker of successful pregnancy outcome in women underwent assisted reproduction.