Soluble human leukocyte antigen-G (sHLA-G) in follicular fluid and embryo culture medium and its impact on pregnancy prediction in IVF-ICSI treatment

In IVF around 70% of embryos fail to implant. Often more than one embryo is transferred in order to enhance the chances of pregnancy, but this is at the price of an increased multiple pregnancy risk.. In the aim to increase the success rate with a single embryo, research projects on prognostic factors of embryo viability have been initiated, but no marker has found a routine clinical application to date. Effects of soluble human leukocyte antigen-G (sHLA-G) on both NK cell activity and on Thl/Th2 cytokine balance suggest a role in the embryo implantation process, but the relevance of sHLA-G measurements in embryo culture medium and in follicular fluid (FF) are inconsistent to date. In this study, we have investigated the potential of sHLA-G in predicting the achievement of a pregnancy after IVF-ICSI in a large number of patients (n = 221). sHLA-G was determined in media and in FF by ELISA. In both FF and embryo medium, no significant differences in sHLA-G concentrations were observed between the groups "pregnancy" and "implantation failure", or between the groups "ongoing" versus "miscarried pregnancies". Our results do not favour routine sHLA-G determinations in the FF nor in embryo conditioned media, with the current assay technology available. (c) 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.