This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
GH during uterine preparation increases live births after repeated implantation failure
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Infertile women undergoing in vitro fertilization who experienced repeated implantation failure were more likely to have a successful pregnancy when treated with growth hormone during endometrium preparation compared with those who did not receive GH, according to study results.
Jan Tesarik, MD, PhD, of the MARGen Clinic, Molecular Assisted Reproduction and Genetics in Spain, and colleagues evaluated data on 105 infertile women undergoing IVF to determine the possible beneficial effects of GH. Participants included 70 women with repeated implantation failure using donated eggs randomly assigned to GH administration (n = 35; GH patients; mean age, 42.2 years) or no GH (n = 35; non-GH group; mean age, 42.4 years), as well as 35 women undergoing their first procedure with donated eggs (positive control group; mean age, 43.8 years). The study was conducted between 2010 and 2017.
Primary outcomes included pregnancy rate, live birth rate calculated as number of births divided by the number of transfer procedures and live born baby rate calculated by dividing the number of babies born by the number of embryos transferred; secondary outcomes included ongoing pregnancy rate calculated as the number of patients with the presence of fetal heart activity divided by the number of transfer procedures, implantation rate, ongoing implantation rate calculated by dividing the number of living fetuses developing beyond 20 weeks divided by the number of embryos transferred, and miscarriage rate. Babies born were followed for up to 1 year to assess for any abnormalities.
Endometrial thickness in the GH group and positive control group was similar (9.3 mm vs. 9.4 mm); participants in the non-GH group had thinner endometrium compared with the GH group (8.6 mm; P = .046).
Lower treatment success rates were observed in the non-GH group compared with the other two groups. Pregnancy rate, implantation rate, ongoing pregnancy rate, ongoing implantation rate, live birth rate and live born baby rate were all highest in the positive control group followed by the GH group; all rates were lowest in the non-GH group.
Compared with the non-GH group, the GH group had higher odds for having a positive beta-human chorionic gonadotropin test (OR = 6.9; 95% CI, 2.2-22.5), positive heart beat (OR = 6.4; 95% CI, 2-20.9) and live birth (OR = 6.4; 95% CI, 2-20.9).
“A question arises ‘how to identify the target patient population without the need to experience several previous treatment failures?’ The answer to this question is pending on the understanding of the mechanism through which GH improves endometrial receptivity,” the researchers wrote. “The evaluation of the effects of GH on endometrial transcriptome, subendometrial vascularization and uterine artery blood flow are possible ways for future research.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts