Anhui Medical University, China (People's Republic)
Objectives: This study is the first to examine the association between dietary behaviors and total number of oocytes retrieved in infertile women.
Methods: We surveyed infertile women undergoing assisted reproduction treatment (ART) at an assisted reproduction medicine center in Anhui Province between July and October 2022, China. Questionnaires were used to collect dietary behavioral preferences of 557 infertile women and to track assisted reproduction outcomes. To investigate the association between dietary behaviors and the total number of oocytes retrieved, generalized linear regression analyses were used in crude and adjusted models, and age-stratified differences were observed.
Results: The mean age of 557 infertile women was 30.68±4.29 years and the mean number of total oocytes obtained was 12.90±7.88. Frequency of spicy food intake was never spicy 67 (12.0%), 1-3 times/month 152 (27.3%), 1-2 times/week 109 (19.6%), 3-7 times/week 144 (25.9%) and daily 85 (15.3%). After controlling for confounders, breakfast habits, dinner habits, late-night snacking habits, and salt intake were not significantly associated with the total number of oocytes gained (P > 0.05). Relative to infertile women who never ate spicy food, engaging in daily spicy food intake was positively associated with the number of oocytes gained (β =2.482, 95% CI=0.071-4.893) and was more significant in infertile women over 30 years of age, (β =3.814, 95% CI=0.415-7.214).
Conclusions: Daily spicy food intake during ART in infertile women may be beneficial for assisted conception outcomes and is more pronounced in infertile women over 30 years of age. To improve the success of assisted conception outcomes, we should give attention to the dietary behavior of infertile women for intervention.
Funding Sources: Young Scientists Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 72004001)
