Correlation Between Serum Interleukin-4, Interleukin-15 And Interferon-? And Outcome Of In Vitro Fertilization Embryo Transfer

Objective:To evaluate the level of interleukin-4(IL-4),interleukin-15(IL-15)and interferon-?(IFN-?)in human serum for exploring the regulatory mechanisms of three cytokines in IVF-ET/ICSI,to direct the selection of clinical transplantation and the improvement of treatment measures,and to increase the pregnancy rate of infertile patients.Methods:We analyzed 595 infertile patients treated by IVF/ICSI-ET and accepted the fresh cycle or frozen cycle transplanting embryos in Reproductive Medicine Center of Second Hospital of Jilin University from December 2015 to September 2016,patients of the fresh cycle transplanting embryos(305 patients)collected serum before oocyte pick-up and patients of the frozen cycle(290 patients)collected serum before transplantation.Serum levels of IL-4,IL-15 and IFN-? were measured by ELISA.Patients were defined as clinical pregnancy group if we could find intrauterine pregnancy capsule after transplantation about three or four weeks by ultrasound,otherwise patients were defined as non-pregnant group.Results:1.the fresh cycle group: 1.1 The level of IL-4 in pregnancy group was significantly higher than that in non-pregnancy group(P <0.01);The levels of IL-15 and IFN-? in pregnancy group were lower than those in non-pregnancy group(P>0.05);The levels of IL-4 / IL-15 and IL-4 / IFN-? in pregnancy group were significantly higher than those in non-pregnant group(P<0.01).1.2 The level of progesterone in classic long program and antagonist program in the pregnancy group was higher than that in the non-pregnant group(P<0.05),The level of progesterone in the improved long-term program in the pregnancy group was higher than in the non-pregnant group(P>0.05).1.3 IL-4,IL-15 and IFN-? levels were not correlated with age,BMI,the number of retrivaled oocyte,fertilization rate,high-quality embryo rate,E2 and progesterone.1.4 IL-15 was positively correlated with IFN-?(r=0.41,P<0.01).2.the frozen cycle group:2.1 The level of IL-4 in pregnancy group was significantly higher than that in non-pregnancy group(P <0.01);The level of IL-15 in the pregnancy group was lower than that in the non-pregnant group(P<0.05);The level of IFN-? in pregnancy group was lower than that in non-pregnancy group(P>0.05);The levels of IL-4 / IL-15 and IL-4 / IFN-? in pregnancy group were significantly higher than those in non-pregnant group(P<0.01).2.2 There was no significant difference in IL-4,IL-15,IFN-?,IL-4/IL-15 and IL-4/IFN-? between artificial endometrium and natural cycle(P > 0.05).2.3 IL-15 was positively correlated with IFN-?(r=0.83,P<0.01).Conclusion:1.The level of IL-4 are increased in pregnant patients receiving IVF/ICSI-ET or FET treatment,showing that IL-4 can contribute to embryo implantation,and were positively correlated with pregnancy outcomes.2.The level of IL-15 and IFN-? are reduced in pregnant patients treated by IVF/ICSI-ET or FET.IFN-? may be toxic to embryos and are not conducive to implantation of embryos and negatively correlated with pregnancy outcomes.3.The level of IL-15 and IFN-? was positively correlated,suggesting that IL-15 may activate the natural killer cells to secretion IFN-?.4.There was no correlation between IL-4?IL-15 and IFN-? levels and the use of drugs in different programs of controlled ovarian hyperstimulation.The use of drugs in frozen embryo transplantation had no effect on the secretion of IL-4?IL-15 and IFN-? in serum.5.Progesterone levels were not associated with IL-4,IL-15 and IFN-? before embryo transfer.