Aims: To determine whether or not serum adiponectin concentrations are influenced by ovarian hyperstimulation during in vitro fertilization (IVF). Methods: This study involved 52 women who were participating in IVF-ET cycles. Adiponectin levels in serum were determined by radioimmunoassay and compared. Results: Serum adiponectin levels fell from Day-basal to Day-hCG (p = 0.047), and then rose on Day-OR and again on Day-7ET (p < 0.001; p < 0.001). Estradiol levels on Day-hCG were significantly and positively correlated with serum adiponectin levels on Day-OR and Day-7ET (r = 0.325, p = 0.019; r = 0.372, p = 0.007). Progesterone levels on Day-OR positively correlated with serum adiponectin levels on Day-basal (r = 0.278, p = 0.046). There was also a positive correlation between progesterone levels on Day-7ET and serum adiponectin levels on Day-OR (r = 0.289, p = 0.038). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that adiponectin levels on Day-OR and Day-7ET were negatively correlated with age and body mass index after adjustment was made for concomitant diseases. Conclusions: To sum up, following gonadotropin treatment, serum adiponectin levels decrease as a result of the negative effect of high estradiol levels on adiponectin production. Conversely, serum adiponectin levels increase following human chorionic gonadotropin treatment.

Aims: To measure adiponectin levels in the serum samples from day 3 of the menstrual cycle prior to the administration of gonadotropin during in vitro fertilization, and to measure any correlations between adiponectin levels and the number of oocytes retrieved, body weights and body mass indexes. Also, to examine whether there is a difference in adiponectin levels between women who conceive and those who do not. Methods: In a case-control design, 56 women undergoing in vitro fertilization procedures were included in this study: 28 women who conceived were matched with 28 women who did not conceive. Adiponectin levels in serum were determined by radioimmunoassay and compared. Results: The adiponectin levels were positively correlated with the number of oocytes retrieved (r = 0.306, p = 0.022), but negatively correlated with body mass index and body weight (r = –0.367, p = 0.005; r = –0.326, p = 0.014). No significant correlations were found between the number of oocytes retrieved and body mass index or body weight (r = 0.020, p = 0.882; r = 0.069, p = 0.613). We further observed that adiponectin levels in women who conceived (23.0 ± 2.0 µg/ml) were found to be significantly higher (p = 0.026) than those in women who did not conceive (17.3 ±1.4 µg/ml). The number of oocytes retrieved from women who conceived (13.3 ± 0.9) was also higher than that in women who did not (10 ± 1.2; p = 0.029). Conclusions: The number of oocytes retrieved was found to correlate positively with the adiponectin levels on the day prior to the administration of gonadotropin. In addition, basal adiponectin levels were significantly higher in those women who conceived. Therefore, adiponectin is a better marker of adequate follicular development during in vitro fertilization than is body weight or body mass index.