Intra- and inter-individual variability of fatty acid composition of the follicular fluid in a cohort of 23 women undergoing assisted reproductive treatment

• Published in: Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics Vol. 37; no. 3; pp. 649 - 655
• Main Authors: Liu, Y. J., Vlaeminck, B., Tilleman, K., Chouinard, P. Y., Gervais, R., De Sutter, P., Fievez, V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.03.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Assisted Reproduction Technologies; Cohort Studies; Fatty acid composition; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids - chemistry; Fatty Acids - genetics; Fatty Acids, Omega-3 - chemistry; Fatty Acids, Omega-3 - genetics; Fatty Acids, Omega-3 - metabolism; Female; Follicles; Follicular fluid; Follicular Fluid - chemistry; Follicular Fluid - metabolism; Gynecology; Human Genetics; Humans; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Oocyte Retrieval - methods; Ovarian Follicle - chemistry; Ovarian Follicle - metabolism; Polyunsaturated fatty acids; Reproduction; Reproductive Medicine; Reproductive Techniques, Assisted; Variation; Intra-individual variation; Fatty acid; Follicular fluid
• ISSN: 1058-0468; 1573-7330
• DOI: 10.1007/s10815-019-01669-6

Purpose To examine the intra- and inter-individual variability in fatty acid composition of follicular fluid (FF) of 23 patients undergoing assisted reproductive treatment. Methods The average coefficient of variation within each patient (CV w ) and intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) values of FF fatty acid composition as well as correlation between the fatty acid composition of individual, pooled or first-punctured follicles, were assessed. Results The proportions of 16:0, 18:0, cis-9 18:1, 18:2n-6, 20:5n-3, total MUFA and n-3 PUFA showed good reproducibility (CV w < 10%). Although CV w values of 18:3n-3 and 20:3n-6 exceeded 10%, variation between patients exceeded intra-individual variation as indicated by elevated ICC values (0.61 and 0.66, respectively). Nevertheless, 20:4n-6 and 22:6n-3 showed non-negligible intra-patient variation. With the exception of some minor fatty acids (< 0.30 g/100 g), strong relationships were demonstrated between the average proportion in individually analysed follicles and the proportion determined in pooled samples and in the first, largest follicle. Conclusion The CV w and ICC values of proportions of 16:0, 18:0, cis-9 18:1, 18:2n-6, 18:3n-3, 20:5n-3, total MUFA and n-3 PUFA showed limited intra-individual variation and moderate to good reliability. However, this is not the case for some other PUFA, such as 20:4n-6 and 22:6n-3. Nevertheless, for all of these fatty acid(s) (groups), calculated average fatty acid proportions were highly correlated with proportions determined in pooled samples and in the first, largest follicle. This implies that single or pooled follicle aspiration suffices to assess intra-individual variation in the FF of these fatty acids.