The clinical efficacy of low-dose step-up follicle stimulating hormone administration for treatment of unexplained infertility

Kazuo Sengoku, K Sengoku, Kenichi Tamate, K Tamate, Y. Takaoka, Michiharu Horikawa, M Horikawa, K Goishi, Keiji Goishi, H Komori, Hisakazu Komori, R Okada, Rie OKADA, K Tsuchiya, Koki Tsuchiya, M Ishikawa, Masahiko Ishikawa
Human Reproduction · 1999 · vol. 14(2) , pp. 349–353 · doi:10.1093/humrep/14.2.349 · PMID:10099977 · W1973285147
RCT OA: bronze CC0
📄 Open PDF View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

A low-dose step-up FSH protocol with IUI showed similar pregnancy rates but significantly reduced OHSS incidence compared to conventional FSH with IUI in unexplained infertility patients.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

The present study was designed to compare the clinical efficacy of low-dose step-up follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) administration with conventional FSH protocol (FSH was injected daily starting with a dose of 150 IU), both combined with intrauterine insemination (IUI), for the treatment of unexplained infertility. A total of 97 unexplained infertility couples was randomly assigned to one or other of the two treatment groups, either conventional FSH with IUI (48 patients) or low-dose step-up FSH with IUI (49 patients), and only the first treatment cycle was evaluated in each protocol. The difference in pregnancy rates per cycle was not statistically significant between the low-dose FSH group and the conventional group [seven of 49 (14.3%) and seven of 48 (14.6%) respectively]. A significant reduction in the incidence of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) was observed in the low-dose group (8.3% versus 27.1%, P < 0.05). The incidence of moderate OHSS requiring hospitalization was reduced significantly in the low-dose group (low-dose 0% versus conventional 16.7%, P < 0.01). However, the low-dose protocol did not completely prevent multiple pregnancies. Our results suggest that the low-dose step-up FSH treatment appeared to be useful for the treatment of unexplained infertility because of the high pregnancy rates and the significant decrease in the incidence of OHSS.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

infertility

MeSH descriptors

Follicle Stimulating Hormone Infertility Adult Dose-Response Relationship, Drug Female Follicle Stimulating Hormone Follicle Stimulating Hormone Hospitalization Humans Incidence Infertility Infertility Male Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome Pregnancy Pregnancy, Multiple Pregnancy Rate

Citation neighborhood (sparse)

Too few in-corpus citations on either side for a chart; here are the lists.

Cites (2)

References (28)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-10-08T20:58:50.057178+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK