| BackgroundAt present, the number of couples suffering from infertility in the world is on the rise annually, with an infertile rate of 5%-15%. Infertility severely affects the normal family life of the young couples. The successful carry-out of the assistant reproduction technique, particularly the in vitro fertilization (IVF) technique, however, provides a bright prospect of treatment for the infertile young couples. With the development of IVF techniques, controlled ovarian hyper-stimulation (COH) is widely utilized. It strengthens and improves ovarian function, and also helps produce more healthy oocytes to be fertilized and more embryos to be transferred so as to raise the pregnancy rate.Ovarian response to the exogenous gonadotropin is the pivotal step in IVF. Several parameters have been postulated as predictors of the ovarian response, all of which strive to assess ovarian reserve, such as age, basal FSH, basal E2, basal inhibin B, P/E2 ratio and the challenge tests. Age is widely confirmed to predict ovarian response, women above 40 years old are usually poor responders. Basal FSH level seems to be the predictive value, but a significant intraindividual variability from cycle to cycle has to be noted. Day 3 Inhibin B level is thought to be of greater value in predicting the ovarian reserve, but it costs much. Basal E2, another indication of ovarianreserve, is mainly used in predicting the cycle cancelling. As for the women with the cycle, bE2 can't accurately predict the ovarian response and pregnancy rate. Notwithstanding several years of clinical experience, the ovarian response to exogenous gonadotropin stimulation is difficult to predict. People haven't yet reached acceptable and definite explanation as to the different ovarian responses resulting from the standard stimulation protocol in young ovulating women undergoing IVF treatment. Patient characteristics, rather than the stimulation protocol, seem to determine the individual response.FSH plays a central role in oogenesis. It triggers the maturation of follicles, the proliferation of granulosa cells, and induces synthesis of the androgen-converting enzyme aromatase. Furthermore, it plays a pivotal role in the recruitment of the dominant follicle. FSH action is mediated by the specific receptor (FSH receptor, FSHR). FSHR is a member of the family of G-protein-coupled receptors expressed mainly in granulosa cells(GCs)of ovary and Sertoli cells of the testis. The expression of the FSHR is the crucial step in development of gonadal responsiveness to gonadotropin.Because of the important role of FSH in reproductive physiology, more and more attention has been paid to its corresponding receptor (FSHR). Several studies have been made to demonstrate that the changes of FSHR structure and function are responsible for the different ovarian responses to gonadotropin stimulation. However, whether the expression of FSHR on GCs is correlated with the ovarian response in IVF cycles, few studies have been reported about it. Whether the FSHR level affects the IVF outcome was still unknown.The purpose of the research was: (1) to investigate the relationship between FSHR expression on GCs and the ovarian response to gonadotropin stimulation in IVF cycles. (2) to investigate whether the FSHR expression is correlated with the IVF outcome. Materials and MethodsThirty-nine ovulatory women with infertility caused by male factor or tubal factor were included in this study from 2001.3 to 2001.9. The IVF cycles were induced by standard long protocol. Granulosa cells were obtained from follicular aspirates during oocyte retrieval, and bloodsamples were collected just at the time of oocyte retrieval. According to the number of follicles> 14mm obtained during oocyte retrieval, the patients were divided into three groups: high responders (follicles >14, n=13), normal responders (follicles 4-13, n=15) and poor responders (follicles<3, n=11). There is no age difference in three groups. The expression levels of FSHR mRNA on granulosa cells were...
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