Astaxanthin improves assisted reproductive technology outcomes in poor ovarian responders through alleviating oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis: a randomized clinical trial

Table 3 Comparison of FF levels of OS markers, inflammatory cytokines, and cfDNA between AST and placebo groups

Variables	AST (n = 26), FF levels	Placebo (n = 25), FF levels	P-value
SOD (U/ml)	14.49 ± 2.12	14.83 ± 2.60	0.607
TAC (µmol/L)	816.18± 126.06	835.71 ± 149.95	0.792
MDA (µmol/L)	12.94 ± 1.16	13.32 ± 2.05	0.887
Il-6 (pg/ml)	2.05± 0.60	2.98 ± 1.02	0.000^*
Il-8 (pg/ml)	24.52 ± 3.68	28.66 ± 8.74	0.036^*
VEGF (pg/ml)	11.04 ± 2.06	13.16 ± 3.02	0.006^*
CfDNA level (ALU115) (ng/µl)	0.39± 0.12	0.60± 0.17	0.000^*
ALU247 (ng/µl)	0.18± 0.07	0.21± 0.07	0.133
CfDNA integrity (ALU 247/ ALU 115)	0.48±0.14	0.38±0.13	0.014^*

AST astaxanthin group, SOD superoxide dismutase, TAC total antioxidant capacity, MDA malondialdehyde, IL-6 interleukin 6, IL-8 interleukin 8, VEGF vascular endothelial growth factor, cfDNA Cell-free DNA, FF follicular fluid. Table values represent mean ± SD. Statistical significance is denoted by a P-value of less than 0.05 (*P < 0.05)

ISSN: 1757-2215