@Article{, title={Serum Follistatin and Its Role in Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Outcomes}, author={Baydaa Lateef Hameed, Mutaz Sabah Ahmeid1}, journal={Medical Journal of Babylon مجلة بابل الطبية}, volume={16}, number={4}, pages={302-306}, year={2019}, abstract={Background: progress in assisted reproductive technology (ART) has enabled the clinicians to treat many types of infertility. Objectives: Theultimate goal of all these procedures is to get a viable intrauterine pregnancy as a step to get a healthy baby. Intracytoplasmic sperminjection (ICSI) refers to the technique of assisted reproduction, including injecting a single sperm into the center (cytoplasm) of the egg.Materials and Methods: A prospective study included 45 women who were enrolled in ART programs in infertility center for in‑vitrofertilization (IVF) in International Center/Kirkuk, Iraq. All women were subjected to the basic fertility workup at the infertility center whichconsists of history taking, physical examination, ovulation detection, evaluation of tubal patency, and uterine cavity. The average age of theincluded women ranged between 20 years and 42 years of age. All women were enrolled in short protocol type of IVF/ICSI cycle, and they hadnormal menstrual cycles. Serum samples were stored for estimation of follistatin level by ELISA technique and for estimation of luteinizinghormone, follicle‑stimulating hormone, estrogen, and progesterone by VIDAS technique. Results: The present study showed that 31.1% ofwomen underwent ICSI technique became pregnant and 68.9% were nonpregnant. The highest mean of age were recorded among pregnantwomen compared with nonpregnant women (32.21 ± 6.68 vs. 31.80 ± 5.38 years) although the result was nonsignificant (P > 0.05). The highestmean of body mass index were recorded among nonpregnant women compared with pregnant women (23.92 ± 1.55 vs. 25.36 ± 1.99 kg/m2);the result was significant. The study showed highest mean level of serum follistatin present in nonpregnant compared with pregnantwomen (0.75 ± 0.32 vs. 0.62 ± 0.24 ng/ml) although the result was nonsignificant (P > 0.05). Conclusions: There was no relation of serumfollistatin with pregnancy after ICSI.

} }