Peritoneal fluid from patients with unexplained infertility inhibits growth of 2-cell mouse embryos

A significantly higher DHEAS concentration was measured in the peritoneal fluid of unexplained infertility patients (1171.4 +/- 155 ng/mL) in comparison to normal controls (667.6 +/- 82 ng/mL). Since the androgenic male serum does not promote blastocyst formation in the mouse embryo assay system, the potential of growth impairment by peritoneal fluid (PF) obtained from 22 women with unexplained infertility and 10 fertile controls was assessed. Where peritoneal fluid and serum from unexplained infertile (UI) patients were used as media supplement in mouse embryo culture, a significant inhibition of growth was observed in dishes containing PF but not serum. When DHEAS was added in varying concentrations to the culture media, a dose-dependent inhibition of embryo growth was observed. These findings show that the elevated DHEAS concentrations in the PF of UI patients adversely effect embryo growth and further suggest that increased DHEAS levels in the cul-de-sac fluid may be a causative factor for infertility.