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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Endocrinol.

Sec. Reproduction

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1596664

Interplay of Endocrine and Psychological Factors in IVF/ICSI Outcomes: A Prospective Cohort Analysis

Provisionally accepted
Chao  WangChao Wang1*Qian-Ling  LiQian-Ling Li2Yun-Shuai  XuYun-Shuai Xu3Ke-Xin  CaoKe-Xin Cao4,5Ya-Qi  ZhangYa-Qi Zhang6Liang  ChangLiang Chang6Yue  TongYue Tong7Ai-Jun  YangAi-Jun Yang2Zhuang  LiuZhuang Liu2Lin  ZhangLin Zhang2*Li  LinLi Lin1*Tour  LiuTour Liu8*
  • 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, International Hospital, Peking University, Beijing, China
  • 2Department of Urology, Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University, Jining, Shandong Province, China
  • 3Department of Psychiatry, Shandong Daizhuang Hospital, Jining, China
  • 4National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Beijing Anding Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
  • 5Advanced Innovation Center for Human Brain Protection, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
  • 6Key Laboratory of Medical Tissue Regeneration, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, Henan Province, China
  • 7College of Psychology and Mental Health, North China University of Science and Technology, Tangshan, Hebei Province, China
  • 8Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Infertility poses considerable challenges to both the endocrine system and psychological well-being of affected women. In particular, those undergoing Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) confront not only physiological demands but also significant psychological stress. Despite the potential interplay between endocrine factors and psychological status in ART outcomes, large-scale investigations remain limited.In this prospective study, we enrolled 493 women undergoing in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). We collected baseline demographic data, reproductive history, treatment parameters, sleep quality, and psychological status (via validated questionnaires). We then evaluated the relationships between these variables and clinical pregnancy outcomes.Our analysis revealed that perceived stress, as measured by the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), was a significant predictor of pregnancy outcomes, whereby elevated perceived stress correlated with lower pregnancy rates. In addition, endocrine and clinical parameters-specifically, basal serum LH levels, endometrial thickness on the day of embryo transfer, number of transferred embryos, and the proportion of top-quality embryos-were strongly associated with clinical pregnancy outcomes.These findings underscore the critical interplay between endocrinology and psychology in ART treatment. Elevated perceived stress and specific endocrine factors each exerted a notable impact on IVF/ICSI success, emphasizing the need for integrative approaches that address both physiological and psychological aspects to enhance clinical pregnancy rates.

Keywords: Infertile women, Psychological factor, stress, Assisted reproductive technology (ART), Reproductive outcomes

Received: 20 Mar 2025; Accepted: 30 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Li, Xu, Cao, Zhang, Chang, Tong, Yang, Liu, Zhang, Lin and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Chao Wang, wangchao2@pkuih.edu.cn
Lin Zhang, jyfyzl@163.com
Li Lin, ll_doctor2021@163.com
Tour Liu, mikebonita@hotmail.com

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