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Does mRNA SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccine in the follicular fluid impact follicle and oocyte performance in IVF treatments?
Author(s) -
OdehNatour Rasha,
Shapira Maanit,
Estrada Daniela,
Freimann Sarit,
Tal Yana,
Atzmon Yuval,
Bilgory Asaf,
Aslih Nardin,
AbuRaya Yasmin Shibli,
ShalomPaz Einat
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
american journal of reproductive immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.071
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1600-0897
pISSN - 1046-7408
DOI - 10.1111/aji.13530
Subject(s) - follicular fluid , medicine , pregnancy , follicular phase , prospective cohort study , andrology , cohort , antibody , obstetrics , physiology , gynecology , oocyte , immunology , biology , embryo , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology
Problem The COVID‐19 pandemic has many clinical manifestations. Rapid vaccine development raised concerns and speculations about future fertility outcomes and vaccine safety. We evaluated the effect of Pfizer‐BioNTech mRNA SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccine on IVF treatment, oocyte and embryo quality, and pregnancy outcomes. Method of study This prospective, observational cohort study was conducted in a referral IVF Unit, 3/2021‐5/2021. We aimed to recruit all women undergoing IVF/ICSI cycles from 3/1–4/30/2021, 2‐8 weeks after the second vaccination, and to analyze 50–60 samples in the 2‐month period. Patients were categorized according to serum antibody levels: positive for spike (S), positive for nucleotide (N), or negative for both. On the day of ovum pick‐up, follicular fluid and blood samples were analyzed for anti‐nucleotide (anti‐N) antibodies, and anti‐spike (anti‐S) antibodies, hormonal profile, C‐reactive protein (CRP) and other metabolic parameters. Results Of 59 women enrolled, 37 reported being vaccinated and 22 were not. We found 97% correlation between anti‐S and anti‐N in the blood and the follicular fluid. Follicular fluid was analyzed based on antibody categorization. All IVF treatment parameters in the follicular fluids and serum were comparable, except CRP was significantly elevated among patients with anti‐N antibodies (2.29 [1.42–6.08] vs. 4.11 [1.62–5.75] vs. 1.44 [.36–8.33]; p < .001). Pregnancy outcomes were comparable (44% vs. 33% vs. 50%; p = .97). Conclusion mRNA SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccine did not appear to affect treatment outcomes or ovarian reserves in the subsequent IVF cycle.