Circulating tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha in normally cycling women and patients with premature ovarian failure and polycystic ovaries.

PROBLEM

The purpose of this study was to investigate the levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha in sera of infertile patients having premature ovarian failure (POF) and polycystic ovaries (PCO), and to compare the levels with those in age-matched normally cycling women.

METHOD

Levels of TNF-alpha, luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and estradiol (E2) were measured in the sera of infertile and normal women by the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), fluorescent immunoassay and radioimmunoassay (RIA), respectively. Multiple groups comparisons were performed using Dunnet's test. Post-hoc analysis was performed using a Tukey-Kramer test. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

TNF-alpha levels were significantly (P = 0.003 to < .0001) lower in the sera of patients with POF compared to sera of controls and patients with PCO.

CONCLUSIONS

TNF-alpha may have a role in ovarian function. Derangement in follicular development, luteal function and atresia results in a change of circulating TNF-alpha levels.