Study Finds That In-Vitro Fertilization Plancentation May Differ from Normal Plancentation

In a study, presented at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's (SMFM) annual meeting, researchers unveiled findings that show distinct differences in protein detection between IVF and spontaneous pregnancies in the first half of gestation. The study comprised of 110 women (55 IVF and 55 spontaneous pregnancies) who were recruited at the University Hospital of Oulu, (Oulu, Finland) between 2001 and 2006. Maternal sera were collected at 11 and 19 gestational weeks. Proteome analysis was performed using fluorescence 2-D gel electrophoreses, multidimensional liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and label-free quantification. The process identified 368 unique proteins.

Protein differences between the IVF and spontaneous pregnancy patients included differences in extra-cellular matrix, cytoskeletal, vascular, and complement and transport proteins; all of which are important in placentation. Most of the differences disappeared by 19 weeks; only pregnancy specific glycoprotein-1 (PSG1) remained significantly different.

The study was authored by Mervi Haapsamo, University of Oulu, Juha Rasanen, Oregon Health & Science University; Melissa Standley, Archana Thomas, Thomas Jacob, John Michaels, Xinfang Lu, John Lapidus, and Srinivasa Nagalla of ProteoGenix, Inc.; and Micheal Gravett of University of Washington.