Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

The Ratio of cf-mtDNA vs cf-nDNA in the Follicular Fluid of Women Undergoing IVF Is Positively Correlated with Age

Georgia Tsirka
,
Athanasios Zikopoulos
,
Kyriaki Papageorgiou
,
Charilaos Kostoulas
ORCID logo ,
Ioannis Tsigkas
,
Efthalia Moustakli
,
Aris Kaltsas
ORCID logo ,
Eleftheria Sarafi
,
Theologos M Michaelidis
ORCID logo ,
Ioannis Georgiou
*
Version 1 : Received: 3 July 2023 / Approved: 3 July 2023 / Online: 4 July 2023 (03:03:44 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Tsirka, G.; Zikopoulos, A.; Papageorgiou, K.; Kostoulas, C.; Tsigkas, I.; Moustakli, E.; Kaltsas, A.; Sarafi, E.; Michaelidis, T.M.; Georgiou, I. The Ratio of cf-mtDNA vs. cf-nDNA in the Follicular Fluid of Women Undergoing IVF Is Positively Correlated with Age. Genes 2023, 14, 1504. Tsirka, G.; Zikopoulos, A.; Papageorgiou, K.; Kostoulas, C.; Tsigkas, I.; Moustakli, E.; Kaltsas, A.; Sarafi, E.; Michaelidis, T.M.; Georgiou, I. The Ratio of cf-mtDNA vs. cf-nDNA in the Follicular Fluid of Women Undergoing IVF Is Positively Correlated with Age. Genes 2023, 14, 1504.

Abstract

Age-related mitochondrial markers may facilitate the prognosis of artificial reproductive technology outcomes. In this report, we present our study concerning the ratio of cf-mtDNA/cf-nDNA, namely the amount of cell-free mitochondrial DNA relative to cell-free nuclear DNA, in the follicular fluid (FF) of women undergoing IVF, aiming to generate a molecular fingerprint of oocyte quality. The values of this ratio were measured and compared among three groups of women (101 in total): (A)31 women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), (B) 34 women younger than 36 years, and (C) 36 women older than 35 years of age. Real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) was performed to quantify the ratio by using nuclear- and mitochondrial-specific primers and analyzed for potential correlation with age and pregnancy rate. Our analysis showed that the level of FF-cf-mtDNA was lower in the group of advanced-age women than in the groups of PCOS and non-PCOS women. Moreover, a significant positive correlation between FF-cf-mtDNA and the number of mature (MII) oocytes was observed. Collectively, the data show that the relative ratio of cf- mtDNA to cf-nDNA content in human FF can be an effective predictor for assessing the corresponding oocyte’s age-related performance in IVF.

Keywords

follicular fluid (FF); mitochondria; cf-mtDNA/cf-nDNA; age; cf-mtDNA; cf-nDNA; IVF; ART; PCOS

Subject

Biology and Life Sciences, Biology and Biotechnology

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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