Introduction: The etiologies of diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) are still poorly understood, and many factors such as age, autoimmunity, genetics, idiopathicity, iatrogenesis, and oxidative stress (OS) play a role. Oxidative cellular damage increases following reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced aging. This is the first study to evaluate the serum and follicular fluid (FF) thiol/disulfide homeostasis in patients under 35 years of age with DOR undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI).
Methods: In this study, DOR was defined by the Poseidon criteria, and Poseidon group 3 women were selected as the study group (n = 40). The control group was composed of patients with the diagnosis of mild-moderate male factor infertility (n = 30).
Results: The FF and serum native and total thiol levels, the markers of the antioxidant system, were significantly decreased in the DOR group compared with the control group (p = 0.021) (p = 0.037) (p = 0.029) (p = 0.04). On the other hand, we found no significant differences in the oxidant parameters between the groups (p > 0.05).
Conclusions: An intrinsic deficiency of antioxidants can play an important role in the etiology of DOR. The dietary addition of antioxidants could be beneficial in DOR patients.
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