Value of serum and follicular fluid sirtuin (SIRT)1 and SIRT2 protein levels in predicting the outcome of assisted reproduction

Ling-Nv Yao; Tian-Fang Zhang; Wen-Qin Lin; Nan Jiang; Hai-Feng Cao; Hong Li; Jian-Hua Qian

doi:10.21037/atm-21-63

Value of serum and follicular fluid sirtuin (SIRT)1 and SIRT2 protein levels in predicting the outcome of assisted reproduction

Ann Transl Med. 2021 Feb;9(4):343. doi: 10.21037/atm-21-63.

Authors

Ling-Nv Yao¹, Tian-Fang Zhang², Wen-Qin Lin¹, Nan Jiang¹, Hai-Feng Cao¹, Hong Li³, Jian-Hua Qian⁴

Affiliations

¹ Reproductive Medical Center, First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
² Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
³ Surgical Department, First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
⁴ Department of Gynaecology, First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.

Abstract

Background: To explore whether serum and follicular fluid (FF), sirtuin 1 (SIRT1), and SIRT2 could predict the outcome of assisted reproduction.

Methods: All patients underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for the first time in the Reproductive Medicine Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University Medical College from March 2018 to December 2018. According to cumulative clinical pregnancy outcomes, the patients were divided into a pregnancy group and non-pregnancy group. We measured the serum levels of SIRT1, SIRT2, anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and estradiol (E2) from the second to the fifth day of menstruation, and the levels of SIRT1 and SIRT2 in serum and FF on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) injection and oocyte retrieval.

Results: A total of 125 patients met the inclusion criteria. The pregnancy group comprised 56 cases and non-pregnancy group 69 cases. There were significant differences in basal level SIRT2 (bSIRT2), AMH, antral follicle count (AFC), number of oocytes obtained, number of mature eggs, number of fertilized eggs, number of excellent embryos, number of blastocyst formations, and number of transferred high-quality embryos between the two groups. The area under the curve (AUC) values of bSIRT2, AFC, AMH, and age were significantly different from those under the opportunity reference line (P<0.05). In the subsequent correlation analysis, FFSIRT2, and HCG day serum SIRT2 were negatively correlated with age (r=-0.35, r=-0.19), and positively correlated with AFC (r=0.2, r=0.02). Serum SIRT1 on HCG day was negatively correlated with the number of blastocysts and the number of frozen embryos (r=-0.18, r=-0.21). Levels of FF SIRT1 and FF SIRT2 were significantly lower than those in serum SIRT1 and SIRT2, and there was no significant difference in serum SIRT1 and SIRT2 before and after ovulation promotion.

Conclusions: The results suggest that bSIRT2 has significant statistical significance in predicting the cumulative number of pregnancies. When combined with AMH, AFC, and age, bSIRT2 can predict the cumulative pregnancy outcome. In addition, the level of serum SIRT1 and SIRT2 were not affected by ovulation promotion.

Keywords: SIRT1; SIRT2; anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH); assisted reproduction; fertility outcomes.