[Detection of cadmium and zinc in the blood and follicular fluid in women in the IVF and ET program].

Scientific and technical development contributed on the one hand greatly to easier living conditions, on the other hand there is however substantially greater danger threatening not only the life of man but also of nature, of the entire living environment. At present the problem of the possible part played by this phenomenon in reproductive disorders is in the foreground. Via the food chain heavy metals, toxic trace elements and polyhalogenic hydrocarbons penetrate into the organism. They accumulate in the organism and thus also in the reproductive tract and may have an impact on fertility. Some elements with a possible negative impact on reproductive health are in such low concentrations in tissues that only contemporary methods of their detection make it possible to map their presence in the organism. They are called trace elements. Toxic ones comprise cadmium, mercury, lead and arsenic. The mechanism of the negative action of cadmium in the organism is most probably due to its competition with the vitally important trace element--zinc. It was therefore the objective of the present investigation to trace the presence of cadmium and zinc in the organism of 100 sterile women included in an IVF programme: in blood and follicular fluid (i.e. in a medium which surrounds the gamete--the oocyte) and to follow up their concentrations in relation to achievement pregnancy. Cadmium and zinc in blood and follicular fluid were assessed on a mass spectrometer with induction bound plasma as the source of ions (ICP-MS), Varian Co. produced in 1994. The assessed mean levels (microgram/l) of cadmium in blood (2.88 s 2.71) and follicular fluid (1.25 s 0.55) in the group of conception cycles did not differ significantly from mean blood levels (2.82 s 2.22) and follicular levels (1.16 s 0.55) of non-conception cycles. The mean zinc levels in blood and follicular fluid did not differ either in the group of conception and non-conception cycles. Very significant are the differences in the blood and follicular fluid levels, the levels in follicular fluid being significantly lower. We may speak of a protective barrier of the oocyte formed by the follicle (probably the cells of the granulosa) against blood. Thus no relationship was found between the cadmium concentration in blood and follicular fluid of women where pregnancy was achieved and non-pregnant women. The possible cause of fertility disorders in conjunction with toxic elements is probably in damage of the granulosa cells and thus their dysfunction as regards production of steroid hormones with full impact on female fertility (hormone disruptors).