Objective To investigate the association of follicular and serum levels of endocrine gland-derived vascular endothelial growth factor (EG-VEGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) with ovarian response in women with in vitro fertilization (IVF), and explore their predictive values for pregnancy outcome. Methods Sixty infertile women undergoing in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) were selected, the follicular levels of EG-VEGF, VEGF and TGF-β1 during oocyte retrieval and the serum levels of EG-VEGF, VEGF and TGF-β1 on day 2 after oocyte retrieval were measured, and their association with ovarian response and pregnancy outcome of IVF were analysed.ResultsThe follicular level of EG-VEGF, serum level of EG-VEGF and follicular level of VEGF were negatively correlated with serum level of estradiol (E2) on the day of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) injection during controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (r=－0.622, P<0.01; r=－0.511, P<0.01; r=－0.427, P<0.01). The follicular level of EG-VEGF was positively correlated with follicular level of VEGF (r=0.354, P<0.01). Among the 60 patients, 31 were pregnant, while the other 29 were not. The serum level of E2 on the day of hCG injection in pregnancy group was significantly lower than that in non-pregancy group (P<0.05), and the serum level of EG-VEGF in pregnancy group was significantly higher than that in non-pregancy group (P<0.01), while there was no significant difference in follicular and serum levels of VEGF and TGF-β1 between two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion Follicular and serum levels of EG-VEGF and follicular level of VEGF are negatively correlated with ovarian response. Serum level of EG-VEGF in the early luteal phase is associated with pregnancy outcome of IVF, which may potentially predict the pregnancy outcome of IVF.