Determination of IL-1 and IL-6 Levels in Human Embryo Culture-Conditioned Media

PROBLEM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of interleukin‐1 (IL‐1) and IL‐6 in 24‐hour human embryo culture‐conditioned media (HECCM) and to find any embryo‐related factor(s) to predict pregnancy during IVF procedure. METHOD: IL‐1β and IL‐6 levels were measured in 36 samples of HECCM and 17 cell culture media that had not been exposed to embryos, which were used as controls. Both cytokine levels were measured by the ELISA technique, using commercially available kits. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: We found an average IL‐1β level ± SEM of 82 ± 4 pg/ ml (n=11) in HECCM from viable pregnancies and a significantly lower value, 14 ± 2 pg/ ml (n=25, P