This study aimed to evaluate the interrelationship between telomere length, telomerase
activity and oxidative DNA damage in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF).
This single-center, observational clinical study comprised 102 unselected, consecutive
patients with various infertility diagnoses. Granulosa cells (GCs) and follicular
fluid (FF) were analyzed simultaneously for telomere functions and for the marker
of oxidative DNA damage, 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG). An Absolute Human Telomere
Lengths Quantification qPCR Assay kit and Telomerase Activity Quantification qPCR
Assay kit (Nucleotestbio, Budapest, Hungary), as well as an 8-OHdG ELISA kit (Abbexa
Ltd., Cambridge, United Kingdom) were used for analyses. Similar telomere lengths
were found in GCs and FF, however telomerase activity was markedly depressed, while
8-OHdG levels were markedly elevated in FF compared with those in GCs (p < 0.01).
Telomere lengths were independent of telomerase activity both in GCs and FF. However,
GC 8-OHdG was inversely related to telomerase activity in GCs and FF (p < 0.05). Importantly,
8-OHdG levels both in GCs and FF had significant negative impact on the number of
the retrieved and MII oocytes (p < 0.01), whereas FF 8-OHdG was negatively related
further to the number of fertilized oocytes and blastocysts (p < 0.01). In conclusion,
we could not confirm the direct association of telomere function and reproductive
potential. However, oxidative DNA damage, as mainly reflected by 8-OHdG, adversely
affected early markers of IVF outcome and clinical pregnancies.
