EVALUATION OF OXIDATIVE STRESS, GONADOTROPHINS AND PROLACTIN IN INFERTILE WOMEN

Abubakar A. Panti*, Ateeque B. Umar, Umar A. Rabiu, Yusuf Saidu, Lawal S. Bilbis, Constance E. Shehu, Karima A. Tunau and Mairo Hassan

ABSTRACT

Background: Reactive oxygen species are implicated in the pathogenesis of many diseases but their role in female infertility has not been extensively established. Objective: To determine oxidative stress markers, in infertile and fertile controls. To determine the level of gonadotropins and prolactin in both groups. Methodology: The study was a case control study conducted at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital Sokoto. This study determined serum levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dismutase (SOD) using standard methods in 100 females, among whom 50 were infertile and the remaining 50 were fertile (control) subjects matched for age. Results: All the infertile subjects showed significantly (P<0.05) higher levels of MDA (5.92±0.39 vs 1.35±0.09) with lower levels of antioxidant enzymes compared to the fertile controls (CAT: 24.65±2.20 vs 104.14±2.24; GPx: 7.66±0.13 vs 25.24±0.55) except SOD (0.51±0.03 vs 0.65±0.03). FSH, LH and PRL levels showed significantly lower levels in the infertile subjects (FSH: 17.13±1.23 vs 6.80±0.45; LH: 18.38±1.23 vs 5.76±0.41; PRL: 33.84±4.14 vs 18.38±1.23). Conclusion: Women with infertility have high oxidative stress status and low level of antioxidant compared to control. In light of this, antioxidant supplementation to infertile women is recommended as a strategy to enhance their chances of conception.

Keywords: Reactive oxygen species prolactin in both groups.