Serum Proteomic Profile of Women Undergoing Assisted Reproduction Technology and its Relation to the Outcome

Infertility is a major public health issue estimated to affect between 8% and 12% of couples globally. Despite the continuous improvements in the assisted reproduction technology (ART) field the success rates still remain modest. Proteomics can identify and quantify overall proteins within a cell, tissue or an organism. As such they can identify alterations in the expression of key proteins (biomarkers) which could then be utilized for prediction of the outcome of an ART cycle, for prevention of an unsuccessful attempt and for monitoring of the cycle in a personalized manner in order to achieve the desirable outcome. Our study examined the serum proteomic profile of women undergoing ART cycle and its relation to the ART outcome. A total of 62 differentially expressed proteins were identified. In our study we found that Vitamin D, Complement C3, Complement C4 and APOA1 may play a crucial role in the in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcome.