Follicular fluid zinc level and oocyte maturity and embryo quality in women with poly cystic ovary syndrome

Objective: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is considered to be one of the most common endocrine disorders in women of reproductive age. Zinc, a vital trace element in the body, plays a key role in health, especially due to its antioxidant role. On the other hand, lack of antioxidants and the existence of oxidative stress can adversely affect oocytes quality and consequently fertility rate. The studies that report how follicular fluid affects zinc in terms of number and quality of the oocytes in infertile women with PCOS are few and not consistent so far. We decided to investigate this issue. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional research. The statistical society of the research was all the women referring to Omolbanin Hospital, Dezful, Iran with PCOS (February to December 2019). A number of 90 samples (follicular fluid, oocytes, and embryos) were collected from the subjects who had undergone in-vitro fertilization in the aforementioned hospital. To Measure the zinc level in follicular fluid, HPLC was utilized. Also, oocytes maturity and embryos quality evaluation was performed using inverted optical microscopy. One-way ANOVA and Fisher’s LSD were used for data analysis. Results: The amount of the follicular fluid zinc did not cause any significant difference in the number of oocytes and MI and GV oocytes, but a significant decrease was observed in the number of MII oocytes at zinc values less than 35 µg/dL. The follicular fluid zinc levels less than 35 µg/dL also decreased the embryo quality significantly. Conclusion: A significant relationship was reported between the level of follicular fluid zinc and the quality and the number of oocytes taken from the ovaries of infertile patients with polycystic ovary history who were candidates for in vitro fertilization treatment as well as the number of more high quality embryos.