Estimation the Level of Follicular Fluid Follistatin in Women Undergoing Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection

Objectives: A prospective study carried out in Kirkuk city from 15th of January 2019 to 10th of April 2019, included 45 women who were enrolled in assisted reproductive technology (ART) programs in infertility Centre/Kirkuk, Iraq. Patients and Method: All women were subjected to the basic fertility work-up at the infertility center which consists of history taking,physical examination, ovulation detection, evaluation of tubal patency and uterine cavity. The average age of the included women ranged between 20 and 42 years old. All women were enrolled in short protocol type of IVF/ICSI cycle and they had normal menstrual cycles. Nearly 5 ml of follicular fluid was obtained from all women undergoing ICSI for estimation of follistatin level by ELISA technique. Results: The present study showed that 31.1% (14 of 45) of women underwent ISCI technique became pregnant and 68.9% were non-pregnant (31 of 45). The highest mean of age were recorded among pregnant women compared with non-pregnant women (32.21 ± 6.68 v.s. 31.80 ± 5.38 year) although the result was non-significant (P: > 0.05). The highest mean of BMI were recorded among non-pregnant women compared with pregnant women (23.92 ± 1.55 v.s 25.36 ± 1.99 kg/m²), the result was significant. The highest mean level of follicular fluid follistatin evaluated in pregnant compared with non pregnant (10.20 ± 0.30 v.s 9.83 ± 0.58 ng/ml) although the result was high significant difference (p: < 0.05). The study showed that there was negative correlation of follicular fluid follistatin level with age in pregnant women (r= -0.3), with positive correlation of with age in non-pregnant women. Conclusions: There was a highly significant relation of follicular fluid follistatin with pregnancy outcomes after ICSI.