Impact of body weight on IVF: pathophysiology, outcomes, and clinical considerations

This study aimed to examine if excess body weight impacts the outcomes of IVF treatment cycles.

While data on the effect and/or association of excess weight on IVF outcomes continue to produce mixed results, recent studies stratifying analyses by age are yielding clarity on a detrimental potential of obesity on IVF outcomes. Specifically, IVF outcomes in the third decade of life are susceptible to adverse implications of excess weight, as reflected in lower clinical pregnancy and live birth rates. Plausible pathogenic mechanisms underlying the detrimental impact of excess weight on IVF outcomes include inflammation, DNA repair, insulin resistance, and the targets of such mechanisms that include the spectrum of players critical to reproductive success, including the oocyte, sperm, embryo, and uterine receptivity.

The detrimental implications of excess weight on IVF outcomes are more pronounced by age, and inflammatory processes seem to be particularly relevant to the interplay of weight excess, adiposity, and IVF cycle outcomes.