Abstract
Aim: The study of follicular fluid using proteomic techniques could provide a useful tool for understanding follicular fluid components and their effect on pregnancy outcome. The aim of the study is to identify and catalog follicular fluid proteins in women 35 years of age or older. Material and Method: Fol-licular fluid was collected from 21 couples, of which 11 couples achieved suc-cessful pregnancy and 10 couples failed to get pregnant. Samples were ana-lyzed by multidimensional chromatography coupled with in-line nano-spray ionization mass spectrometry on an LTQ XL ion trap mass spectrometer. We used the Biomarker Analysis Program from PDQuest software to identify protein constituents in pregnant and non-pregnant groups. Results: In total, 1024 protein specimens were identified. The proteins identified were consis-tent throughout the experiment and within each of the analyzed specimens. Discussion: A compiled listing of follicular fluid proteins could be a potential starting point for the identification and evaluation of important proteins in-volved in the development of oocytes; the results of our study may fill a noticeable knowledge-gap in the understanding of follicular fluid proteome.