newbies first questions

[isabel2944]

Hello Everybody... were still learning all these acronyms, this is a little harder for us since were being treated in a Spanish speaking country, so thanks for you patience with some questions. We have been reading the glossary and many acronyms are listed, but not all, is there another link or page that we can read up on and get up to speed?

Now to our questions... We just underwent our first IVF cycle, with all basic parameters that seem to be in order. Sperm studies OK, three grade 4 eggs fertilized and implanted... but still we didnt get pregnant. We havent had a chance to see out Doc and discuss the results in detail, but have been reading a lot on these boards about natural selection (or killer cells?) that seem to get in the way of positive results.

Im 36 and my DH is 37.

Does anybody have similar experiences?

[jordan22]

I just tested abnormal for the NKC.. the tests costs a bit much but well worth it... (I am not sure how they do it in other countries... ) I aonly had one failed IVF but I had 3 grade 1 embryos so I wanted tested before we moved on to another cycle... If you test abnormal you wuld have t o consider IVIG but in my case I have low IGA levels (immune issues) so I can not do IVIG.. but rather something called intrlipids... it is under study right now so I ma not sure how well it works (said to be just as effective as IVIG) but we will see...

I say ge the test for Natural Killer cells before moving on... I think the cost of the bloodwork is woth saving on the cost of another IVF cycle not to mention the emotional mess...

good luck

[isabel2944]

Jordan, many thanks for your comments. We will for sure speak to our Dr. about doing this additional bloodwork. Could you kindly clarify what is IVIG? Thanks again.

[jordan22]

IVIG is IVIG is Intravenous Immunoglobulin G (IVIG) is a sterile protein preparation derived from human blood.

There are basically four ways in which IVIG is believed to offset or counter the anti-implantation effects associated with reproductive immunologic deficiencies. First, it is a potent suppressor of activated (toxic) Natural Killer cells (NKa). Second, it contains anti-idiotype antibodies that directly counter many of the damaging the effects of several varieties of autoantibodies (antibodies that attack the body's own cells), such as antiphospholipid antibodies (APAs), thereby protecting the early "root system of the embryo/conceptus from rejection. Third, IVIG reduces the activity of activated T-cells which are major producers of TH1 cytokines ("toxins") that can damage the early implanting conceptus. Fourthly, IVIG is believed to suppress the ability of B cells to produce damaging autoantibodies such as APAs and antithyroid antibodies (ATA) which are associated with poor reproductive performance (Recurrent pregnancy loss, intrauterine growth retardation and early implantation failure)

[isabel2944]

Thanks for your very clear answers.