Follicular fluid vascular endothelial growth factor is associated with type of infertility and interferon alpha correlates with endometrial thickness in natural cycle in vitro fertilization

The aim of this study was to analyse the presence of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and interferon alpha (IFN-α) in the follicular fluid (FF) and their possible influence, as pro-angiogenic or anti-angiogenic factors, on in vitro fertilization outcome. The concentrations of VEGF and IFN-α were correlated with oocyte and embryo quality, concentrations of hormones in the serum, perifollicular blood flow and endometrial thickness. VEGF was detected in all FF samples (median 706.6 pg/ml, range 182.9-6638 pg/ml). IFN-α was detected in 60% of the samples (median 6.5 pg/ml, range 0-79.4 pg/ml), while in 40% of the samples its levels were below the test detection limit. VEGF and IFN-α concentrations did not correlate with the cause of infertility, concentrations of FSH, LH, E2 and prolactin, oocyte or embryo quality. Significantly higher concentrations of VEGF have been found in women with primary compared with secondary infertility (p = 0.011, Mann Whitney test). The concentrations of VEGF and IFN-α did not correlate with the resistance index (RI) on days of hCG administration, follicular aspiration and embryo transfer. However, the concentrations of IFN-α correlated with endometrial thickness on the day of embryo transfer (Spearman correlation coefficient ρ = 0.4107; P < 0.05) but not on days of hCG administration and follicular aspiration. The mechanism of VEGF association with the previous ability of having a child needs to be clarified in future studies. The results of this study indicate a possible role of IFN-α in pathways of endometrial remodelling.