Determination of il-17 and il-27 levels in sera of infertile women with unexplained infertility and polycystic ovary syndrome subjected to ovulation induction/intrauterine insemination program and their effects on pregnancy outcome

Background: Cytokines play considerable role in reproductive system. Objectives: Study role of interleukin-17 (IL-17) and interleukin-27 (IL-27) in ovulatory process, endometrial receptivity, and implantation processes and their pathogenic contribution to infertility and their effects on pregnancy outcomes after ovulation induction/intrauterine insemination (OI/IUI). Materials and Methods: Twenty unexplained infertile and twenty-seven polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) women subjected to (OI/IUI) and sixteen fertile women as control group were enrolled in this study. Serum IL-17 and IL-27 concentrations for study cases were measured before triggering of ovulation by human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) administration and also were measured for control group. Results: Only two (4.25%) PCOS women became pregnant after OI/IUI. There were significant increase in concentrations of IL-17 and IL-27 for unexplained infertility women (p=0.0004, p=0.006, respectively) and for PCOS women not became pregnant (p=0.02, 0.0041, respectively) compared to control group. The two PCOS women who became pregnant exerted no significant difference in IL-17 concentration (p=0.39) and significant increase in IL-27 concentrations (p=0.006) compared to control group. Conclusions: Abnormal IL-17 and IL-27 concentrations adversely affected OI/IUI pregnancy outcome.