Abstract

BACKGROUND: The quality of oocyte is often considered as a limiting factor for fertility, especially IVF. Some mitochondrial mutations, particularly the 4977-bp deletion increase with the age. Thus, this mutation can serve as a marker for cell aging, which indicates the reduced quality of the oocytes for fertilization. It has been suggested that this can also be investigated in the blood cells of women with IVF failure. OBJECTIVE: 1-Determination of the frequency of 4977-bp deletion in women with IVF failure, 2-Investigation of the relationship between 4977-bp deletion and the age of patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the 4977-bp deletion in blood samples of 52 IVF failure women and 52 women who had at least one healthy child. After polymerase chain reaction with deleted and wild-type primers, the products were examined using agarose gel electrophoresis. RESULTS: 48.07 of women with IVF failure and 34.62 of healthy women had a mitochondrial 4977-bp deletion, with p=0.163 and OR: 1.749. Also, in association with the age of these patients and the frequency of 4977-bp mutation, p and OR were obtained 0.163 and 1.749, respectively and frequency of this mutation was higher in patients over 35 yr old compared to other subgroups (Patients >/=35: 57.69). CONCLUSION: According to the findings of this study, there is no a significant relationship between the frequency of mitochondrial 4977-bp mutation and failure in IVF.