A comparison of follicular fluid levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 in normal dominant and cohort follicles, polycystic and multicystic ovaries.

Fourteen ovulatory patients undergoing diagnostic laparoscopy had at least two samples of clear follicular fluid (FF) collected in the late follicular phase. The cohort concentrations of Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF1) were significantly correlated with serum IGF1 and dominant follicles contained significantly higher concentrations of IGF1 and oestradiol (E2) than their cohorts. After the LH surge, a further significant increase in dominant FF-IGF1 occurred. FF-(log)E2 was significantly correlated with both FF-IGF1 and FF volume. Nine women with the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and one patient with multicystic ovaries (MCO) associated with weight-loss related amenorrhoea also had follicular aspiration performed. The mean (SD) FF-IGF1 in the PCOS group, 0.42 (0.15) U/ml, was not significantly different from that of the cohorts in the control group, 0.39 (0.13) U/ml. The patient with MCO had both serum and FF-IGF1 concentrations less than 10th centile. These results support the hypothesis that IGF1 has a paracrine (and possibly endocrine) role in the regulation of ovarian function in the human female.