The Relationships among Plasma Fetuin-B, Thyroid Autoimmunity, and Fertilization Rate In Vitro Fertilization and Embryo Transfer

Rui Zhang; Feifei Cheng; Wei Cheng; Xin Wang; Binghan Zhang; Mingyuan Tian; Ke Li; Dongfang Liu

doi:10.1155/2022/9961253

The Relationships among Plasma Fetuin-B, Thyroid Autoimmunity, and Fertilization Rate In Vitro Fertilization and Embryo Transfer

Int J Endocrinol. 2022 Mar 16:2022:9961253. doi: 10.1155/2022/9961253. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Rui Zhang¹, Feifei Cheng¹, Wei Cheng¹, Xin Wang¹, Binghan Zhang², Mingyuan Tian¹, Ke Li¹, Dongfang Liu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China.
² Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, The Chongqing People's Hospital, Chongqing, China.

Abstract

Objective: The objective of the study is to investigate the relationships between fetuin-B, thyroid autoimmunity (TAI), and pregnancy outcomes in women undergoing in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET). Design, Patients, and Measurements. In this prospective study, 180 women who were preparing for pregnancy with IVF-ET were included. There were 120 women with TAI positive and 60 negative controls matched with age and BMI.

Results: The 180 women had mean ± SD age of 31.4 ± 4.0 years, with a mean ± SD BMI of 21.0 ± 1.6 kg/m². There was a significant difference in the level of fetuin-B in women with TAI positive compared with TAI negative group (65.2 ± 18.5 vs. 76.4 ± 25.1, P=0.001). Fetuin-B had a negative relationship with thyroid antibodies even after adjusting for other variables (OR (95%CI) = 0.98 (0.96-0.99), P=0.002). Compared with women with TAI negative, those with TAI positive had a significantly higher risk of low fertilization (20.0% vs. 6.7%; P=0.035). And we found no difference in terms of pregnancy, abortion, implantation, and live birth rate between the two groups. Logistic regression analysis showed that both fetuin-B and TAI were the independent factors to lead the low fertilization of IVF-ET (OR (95%CI) = 0.96 (0.94-0.99) and 4.084 (1.39-15.30), P=0.004 and 0.019, respectively).

Conclusion: Fetuin-B was significantly associated with TAI and low fertilization rate in women undergoing IVF-ET. Decreased fetuin-B in women with TAI may be the underlying reason for the lower IVF-ET success rate.