Cholesterol and steroid levels in human follicular fluids of human menopausal gonadotropin-induced cycles for in vitro fertilization.

Fifty-eight follicular fluids (FF) were obtained from 18 women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF). Follicular development was induced by human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG) and follicular aspiration was performed 36 hr after an ovulatory dose of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). Two stages of oocyte-corona-cumulus complexes (OCCCs) morphological maturation was identified in this population: intermediate and mature. FF from which intermediate and mature OCCCs were obtained did not differ in 17 beta-estradiol (E2), progesterone (P), and cholesterol levels. Fifty OCCCs were fertilized and eight were not fertilized. No difference was found in E2, P, and cholesterol levels in those two populations of OCCCs. Forty hours after insemination 50% of the oocytes were at the two-cell stage and 50% were at the three-cell stage. Steroids and cholesterol levels did not differ in FF from which those two groups of embryos originated. A direct correlation was found among the levels of cholesterol, E2, and P in the FF. An inverted ratio of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) to low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) was found in FF compared to serum in 10 women. It is concluded that FF cholesterol levels have no value in predicting follicular maturation.