Can unexplained infertility be evaluated by a new immunological four-biomarkers panel? A pilot study

Area of Science:

• Reproductive immunology
• Infertility diagnostics
• Biomarker analysis

Background:

• Inflammation and oxidative stress negatively impact pregnancy rates.
• Maternal immunosuppression is a contributing factor to infertility.
• Unexplained infertility affects a significant portion of women seeking fertility treatments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the incidence of immunological biomarkers within the IMMUNOX Panel in women with unexplained infertility.
• To evaluate the correlation between IMMUNOX Panel positivity and overall pregnancy rates.
• To determine if the IMMUNOX Panel can predict the success of fertility treatments.

Main Methods:

• Screening of 86 women with unexplained infertility for four immunological biomarkers: tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), glycodelin (GLY), total oxidative status (TOS), and complement activity toxic factor (CATF).
• Classifying women as IMMUNOX-Positive if at least one biomarker was outside the physiologic range.
• Analyzing the pregnancy rates in IMMUNOX-Positive versus IMMUNOX-Negative subgroups.

Main Results:

• The incidence of IMMUNOX-positivity was 19.8% for GLY, 18.6% for TNF-α, 25.6% for TOS, and 47.7% for CATF.
• Overall, 70.9% of the studied women were IMMUNOX-Positive (at least one abnormal biomarker).
• Pregnancy rates were significantly lower in IMMUNOX-Positive (2.9%) compared to IMMUNOX-Negative (36.6%) patients.

Conclusions:

• The IMMUNOX Panel shows potential as a diagnostic tool for identifying women at higher risk of IVF cycle failure.
• Further validation studies are required to confirm the correlation between unexplained infertility and the immunological disorders assessed by the IMMUNOX Panel.
• This approach may aid in predicting and managing infertility cases associated with immunological factors.