Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Vol 55, 798-800, Copyright © 1982 by Endocrine Society

ARTICLES

Successful fertilisation of human oocytes in vitro: concentration of estradiol-17 beta, progesterone and androstenedione in the antral fluid of donor follicles

RS Carson, AO Trounson and JK Findlay

Oocytes and matched samples of follicular fluid were obtained from 156 pre-ovulatory follicles in 125 women 26--36 h after either administration of hCG or the onset of an endogenous LR surge. Concentrations of estradiol-17 beta (E2), progesterone (P) and androstenedione (A4) in the fluid of individual donor follicles were measured and related to the success of fertilisation of oocytes in vitro and the incidence of pregnancies after embryo transfer. Oocytes which gave rise to successful pregnancies were obtained from follicles which contained greater concentrations of E2 and a higher ratio of E2:P than did oocytes from which pregnancy did not result. These data provide direct evidence in support of the hypothesis that estrogenic follicles are the sole source of ova which undergo fertilisation and subsequently give rise to pregnancy in women.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				P. Zheng, W. Si, B. D. Bavister, J. Yang, C. Ding, and W. Ji 17{beta}-Estradiol and progesterone improve in-vitro cytoplasmic maturation of oocytes from unstimulated prepubertal and adult rhesus monkeys Hum. Reprod., October 1, 2003; 18(10): 2137 - 2144. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. A. Dumesic, R. D. Schramm, E. Peterson, A. M. Paprocki, R. Zhou, and D. H. Abbott Impaired Developmental Competence of Oocytes in Adult Prenatally Androgenized Female Rhesus Monkeys Undergoing Gonadotropin Stimulation for in Vitro Fertilization J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., March 1, 2002; 87(3): 1111 - 1119. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M.P. Teissier, H. Chable, S. Paulhac, and Y. Aubard Recombinant human follicle stimulating hormone versus human menopausal gonadotrophin induction: effects in mature follicle endocrinology Hum. Reprod., September 1, 1999; 14(9): 2236 - 2241. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Mendoza, N. Cremades, E. Ruiz-Requena, F. Martinez, E. Ortega, S. Bernabeu, and J. Tesarik Relationship between fertilization results after intracytoplasmic sperm injection, and intrafollicular steroid, pituitary hormone and cytokine concentrations Hum. Reprod., March 1, 1999; 14(3): 628 - 635. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Moreira, H. Saito, T. Kaneko, T. Saito, K. Nakahara, and M. Hiroi Are there any relationships between the fecundity of bilateral ovaries in an individual patient and the incidence of apoptotic granulosa cells? Hum. Reprod., January 1, 1999; 14(1): 156 - 161. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]