Ultralong administration of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists before in vitro fertilization improves fertilization rate but not clinical pregnancy rate in women with mild endometriosis: a prospective, randomized, controlled trial

Apostolos Kaponis, Kaponis A, Chatzopoulos G, Grigoris Chatzopoulos, Paschopoulos M, Minas Paschopoulos, Ioannis Georgiou, Paraskevaidis V, Vaggelis Paraskevaidis, Zikopoulos K, Konstantinos Zikopoulos, Tsiveriotis K, Konstantinos Tsiveriotis, Fuminori Taniguchi, Taniguchi F, Georgios Adonakis, George Adonakis, Tasuku Harada, Harada T
Fertility and sterility · 2020 · vol. 113(4) , pp. 828–835 · doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2019.12.018 · PMID:32147182 · W3009213308
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Pre-IVF administration of GnRH agonists for an ultralong duration improved fertilization rates in women with mild endometriosis but did not increase clinical pregnancy rates.

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Abstract

ObjectiveTo evaluate the effects of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRH-a) on fertility in women with mild endometriosis who are undergoing in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) procedures.DesignProspective, randomized, controlled trial.SettingThree tertiary university hospitals.Patient(s)Four hundred infertile women with mild endometriosis, documented with laparoscopy, undergoing IVF and 200 women with tubal factor infertility.Intervention(s)Administration of GnRH-a for 3 months before an IVF attempt (group A, n = 200) or IVF without GnRH-a (group B, n = 200).Main outcome measure(s)Follicular fluid (FF) levels of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, IL-8, and IL-1 receptor antagonist; fertilization rate (FR), implantation rate (IR), quality of embryos, and clinical pregnancy rate (PR).Result(s)Women who received GnRH-a had a statistically significantly reduced concentration of FF cytokines compared with women who did not receive this regimen. Women in group B had a reduced FR (61.7; 95% CI, 59.20-64.20) compared with the women in group A (72.7; 95% CI, 70.50-74.90) and compared with the women with tubal factor infertility (74.7; 95% CI, 72.00-77.24). The embryo quality, IR, and clinical PR showed no statistically significant improvement in the women of group A compared with group B.Conclusion(s)Women who received GnRH-a for 3 months had a lower concentration of FF cytokines. These women had also a higher FR than the women who did not receive GnRH-a. However, the IR, embryo quality, and clinical PR showed no statistically significant difference when comparing the two groups. CLINICALTRIALS.Gov idNCT01269125.

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Fertilization in Vitro Fertilization in Vitro Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Leuprolide Pregnancy Rate Adult Delayed-Action Preparations Delayed-Action Preparations Drug Administration Schedule Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Fertility Agents, Female Fertility Agents, Female Fertilization in Vitro Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Humans Leuprolide Pregnancy

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