correlation between the level of cholesteryl ester transfer protein in follicular fluid with fertilization rates in ivf/ icsi cycles

background: follicular fluid (ff) plays an important role in oocytes and embryo development, which may contribute to ivf/icsi success rate. objective: the aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between cholesteryl ester transfer protein (cetp) level in ff and the success rate of ivf/icsi. materials and methods: in a cross-sectional study, ff samples, ff samples were obtained from 100 patients referred to tabriz alzahra hospital. seventy-nine subjects underwent ivf and the remaining 21 underwent icsi. the levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (hdl-c), apolipoprotein a-i and cetp were measured using enzymatic, turbidometric and elisa methods respectively. results: analysis of the subgroups with different levels of cetp showed a significant lower level of cetp in the subgroup with the lowest number of mature oocytes (p<0.05). the level of cetp was also considerably lower (18%, p=0.05) in subjects with<50% oocytes fertilization ratio than subjects with >70% of this ratio. conclusion: while no association was found for pregnancy, the amount of cetp in ff was associated positively to the maturity and the percentage of oocyte fertilization.