. 2020 Nov 23;38(2):443–459. doi: 10.1007/s10815-020-02010-2

Table 3.

Association between cfDNA concentration in follicular fluid of mature follicles and IVF laboratory parameters

Characteristics	Intrafollicular cfDNA concentration (ng/μL) in group A	Intrafollicular cfDNA concentration (ng/μL) in group B	Intrafollicular cfDNA concentration (ng/μL) in group C	Kruskal-Wallis test (p value*)	p value**
Retrieved oocytes (mean ± SD) [(95% population limit)]	2.91 ± 0.78 [1.5; 2.9]	2.53 ± 0.43 [1.02; 2.78]	2.21 ± 0.13 [1.01; 2.5]	0.421	–
MII- oocytes (mean ± SD) [(95% population limit)]	2.00 ± 0.86 [0.98; 2.18]	1.64 ± 0.97 [0.78; 1.93]	1.53 ± 0.32 [0.98; 1.82]	< 0.001	< 0.001^a
Fertilized oocytes (mean ± SD) [(95% population limit)]	1.86 ± 0.98 [1.21; 1.98]	1.51 ± 0.65 [0.98; 1.80]	1.43 ± 0.14 [0.91; 1.73]	0.214	–
Normal fertilized oocytes (mean ± SD) [(95% population limit)]	1.81 ± 0.71 [1.14; 1.86]	1.48 ± 0.88 [0.92; 1.91]	1.40 ± 0.77 [0.81; 1.69]	0.143	–
Early cleaved zygote (mean ± SD) [(95% population limit)]	1.78 ± 0.65 [1.08; 1.81]	1.32 ± 0.54 [0.87; 1.53]	1.01 ± 0.62 [0.93; 1.32]	0.145	–
Blastomeres (6–8 cells) with regular symmetry at day 3 (mean ± SD) [(95% population limit)]	1.98 ± 0.54 [1.02; 2.31]	0.98 ± 0.76 [0.19; 1.09]	0.51 ± 0.98 [0.16; 0.99]	< 0.001	< 0.001^a, 0.002^b
High-quality day 3 embryos (mean ± SD) [median (95% population limit)]	1.59 ± 0.97 [1.04; 1.94]	0.88 ± 0.12 [0.15; 1.13]	0.43 ± 0.31 [0.49; 0.99]	< 0.001	< 0.001^a, 0.01^b^c
Embryos suitable for transfer (mean ± SD) [(95% population limit)]	1.81 ± 56 [1.12; 1.99]	1.46 ± 0.49 [0.56; 1.01]	0.91 ± 0.64 [0.71; 0.88]	0.214	–
Fragmentation rate (≤ 25%)	1.91 ± 0.76 [1.03; 1.96]	0.92 ± 0.97 [0.17; 0.88]	0.49 ± 0.29 [0.17; 0.53]	< 0.001	< 0.001^a, 0.003^b^c

Group A (intrafollicular melatonin concentration ≤ 30 pg/mL), group B (intrafollicular melatonin concentration > 70 to ≤ 110 pg/mL), group C (intrafollicular melatonin concentration > 111 to ≤ 385 pg/mL). Intrafollicular data for patients are also subjected to statistical differences

p* Kruskal-Wallis test, p** pairwise comparisons between subgroups, and p < 0.05 considered statistically significant

^aGroup A/C

^bGroup A/B,

^cGroup C/B