NUCB2/Nesfatin-1 in the Blood and Follicular Fluid in Patients with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and Poor Ovarian Response

Background: Failure to respond adequately to standard protocols and to recruit ade-quate follicles is called ‘poor ovarian response’. The relationships between meta- bolic alterations and NUCB2/Nesfatin-1 levels were explored in patients with poly-cystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) undergoing in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Methods: This case-control study involved 20 infertile women with PCOS and 20 control women diagnosed as poor ovarian responders stimulated with a GnRH anta-gonist. Blood samples were taken during ovum pick-up and follicular fluids (FF) were obtained from a dominant follicle from the subjects. Samples were analyzed by using ELISA. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS version 20. Data are ex-pressed as means ± standard deviation (SD). Results: Blood NUCB2/Nesfatin-1 levels in PCOS were significantly lower (p= 0.011) while the NUCB2/Nesfatin-1 levels of FF in poor ovarian response (POR) were higher, but not statistically significant. Insulin, total testosterone, fasting glu-cose, homeostasis model assessment, and insulin resistance index in women with POR decreased when compared with PCOS. Blood NUCB2/Nesfatin-1 levels were significantly higher than FF NUCB2/Nesfatin-1 levels in both groups (p<0.001). Moreover, a positive correlation was detected between blood NUCB2/Nesfatin-1 and testosterone (p=0.602, r=0.304), HOMA-IR (p=0.252, r=0.384), BMI (p=0.880, r= 0.44) in PCOS, but it was not significant. Conclusion: NUCB2/Nesfatin-1 levels might be important in follicular growth in PCOS subjects undergoing IVF/ICSI with an antagonist protocol and NUCB2/ Nesfatin-1 level could reliably help to predict poor ovarian response.