Growth hormone co treatment within a GnRH agonist long protocol improves implantation and pregnancy rates in patients undergoing IVF ET
ObjectiveThe efficacy of growth hormone (GH) co treatment within a GnRH agonist long regimen, in women with a normal ovarian response to controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH) for IVF was assessed.MethodsThis retrospective clinical trial was performed in a private assisted reproduction centre. The study involved 1114 patients who responded normally to high dose gonadotropin treatment. The study group of 556 patients was given in a daily subcutaneous injection of 4.5 IU of GH co treatment, starting from the initial day of gonadotropin treatment and lasting for 5 days. The control group of 558 patients received the same treatment protocol without the GH co treatment. The participants were further divided into two subgroups: age =35 years and age <35 years. The primary endpoint of the study was IVF ET outcomes.ResultsThe demographic characteristics did not significantly differ between the groups. The implantation rate (36.7 vs. 20.4 P 0.05) and clinical pregnancy rate (57.3 vs. 30.1 P 0.05) were significantly higher in the study group than in the control group. An analysis using a multivariate logistic regression model showed that GH was a significant factor for predicting pregnancy outcomes (OR 3.125, 95 CI 2.441 4.000) Furthermore, for the =35 year old group, the endometrial thickness was significantly greater (11.99 2.21 vs. 11.62 2.45, P 0.05) in the study group than in the control group; in contrast, for the <35 year old group, the high quality embryo rate was significantly higher (71.7 vs. 68.3 P 0.05) in the study group than in the control group.ConclusionOur study showed that co treatment with GH in a GnRH agonist long protocol in patients who responded normally while undergoing IVF ET could increase the implantation and pregnancy rates.
Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics