[Smoking--a possible cause for failure in IVF/ET treatment?]

The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between cigarette smoking of women and the fertilisation and pregnancy rates obtained by in-vitro fertilisation treatment. To guarantee an objective recording of tobacco smoke exposure, the smoking habit was not determined by questionnaires, but by cotinine, the principal metabolite of nicotine. The study population consisted of 197 women (23-39 years old) who were divided into the groups 'non-smokers' (n = 68), 'passive smokers' (n = 26) and 'active smokers' (n = 103) according to the cotinine concentration measured in follicular fluid. The reason for infertility was strictly a tubal factor with apparently normal ovulatory cycles. There were no significant differences in fertilisation and pregnancy rates between the different groups (p > 0.05). The E2 serum levels were significantly decreased in women who smoked, compared with the results obtained from non-smokers and passive smokers (p < 0.025). Overall, a strong negative correlation of the cotinine- and E2 levels was observed (r = -0.65). The results suggest that there is no clinically detectable impairment of fertilisation potential due to female smoking and that there is a greater influence on the outcome of in-vitro fertilisation by other factors.