Follicular fluid biomarkers for human in vitro fertilization outcome: Proof of principle

Background: human follicular fluid (ff) is a unique biological fluid in which the oocyte develops in vivo,and presents an optimal source for non-invasive biochemical predictors. oocyte quality directly influences the embryo development and hence,may be used as a predictor of embryo quality. peptide profiling of ff and its potential use as a biomarker for oocyte quality has never been reported. methods: this study screened ff for peptide biomarkers that predict the outcome of in vitro fertilization (ivf). potential biomarkers were discovered by investigating 2 training datasets,consisting both of 17 samples and validating on an independent experiment containing 32 samples. peptide profiles were acquired by nano-scale liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (nano lc-ms/ms). results: from the training datasets 53 peptides were found as potential biomarker candidates,predicting the fertilization outcome of 24 out of the 32 validation samples blindly (81.3% sensitivity,68.8% specificity,auc=0.86). seven potential biomarker peptides were identified. they were derived from: insulin-like growth factor binding protein-5,alpha-2-antiplasmin,complement component 3,inter-alpha-trypsin inhibitor heavy chain h1,serum albumin,protein diaphanous homolog 1 and plastin-3. conclusions: the ms-based comprehensive peptidomic approach carried out in this study,established a novel panel of potential biomarkers that present a promising predictive accuracy rate in fertilization outcome,and indicates ff as an interesting biomarker resource to improve ivf clinic routine. © 2016 the author(s).