Serum biomarkers for predicting pregnancy outcome in women undergoing IVF: human chorionic gonadotropin, progesterone, and inhibin A level at 11 days post-ET

Clin Exp Reprod Med. 2012 Mar;39(1):28-32. doi: 10.5653/cerm.2012.39.1.28. Epub 2012 Mar 31.

Abstract

Objective: This study was performed to assess the prognostic value of serum hCG, progesterone, and inhibin A levels measured at 11 days post-ET for predicting pregnancy outcome in women participating in IVF.

Methods: Between May 2005 and April 2008, sera were obtained from 70 infertile women who underwent IVF-ET at 11 days post-ET and stored. HCG, progesterone, and inhibin A levels were measured by commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits. The predictive accuracy of hCG, progesterone, and inhibin A levels for establishment of intrauterine pregnancy and ongoing pregnancy was calculated by receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis.

Results: For the prediction of intrauterine and ongoing pregnancy, serum hCG was better than progesterone and inhibin A. The predictive performance of progesterone and inhibin A was similar. The serum progesterone and inhibin A levels were significantly correlated each other (r=0.915, p=0.010).

Conclusion: A single measurement of the serum hCG level is sufficient to predict pregnancy outcome in IVF-ET patients.

Keywords: Chorionic gonadotropin; Embryo transfer; In vitro fertilization; Inhibins; Outcomes, pregnancy; Progesterone.