Dehydroepiandrosterone decreases the age-related decline of the in vitro fertilization outcome in women younger than 40 years old
1
Department of Biomedical Sciences and Human Oncology, School of
Medicine, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy
2 Centro di Fecondazione Medicalmente Assistita MoMò Fertilife, Bisceglie, Italy
2 Centro di Fecondazione Medicalmente Assistita MoMò Fertilife, Bisceglie, Italy
Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology 2015, 13:18
doi:10.1186/s12958-015-0014-3
The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.rbej.com/content/13/1/18
The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.rbej.com/content/13/1/18
| Received: | 10 November 2014 |
| Accepted: | 23 February 2015 |
| Published: | 9 March 2015 |
© 2015 Tartagni et al.; licensee BioMed Central.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Abstract
Background
With infertility populations rapidly aging, treatments improving pregnancy chances
assume increasing clinical importance. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) has been reported
to improve pregnancy rates and lower miscarriage rates in women with diminished ovarian
function. This study was planned to evaluate whether pretreatment with DHEA may improve
in vitro fertilization (IVF) parameters and pregnancy outcomes in infertile women with advanced
reproductive age and normal ovarian reserve.
Methods
In this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study, 109 infertile patients
aging 36–40 years old were selected to undergo the long protocol IVF. Eight weeks
before starting the IVF cycle and during treatment, patients in Group 1 received 75 mg
of DHEA once a day; patients in control group (Group 2) received placebo. The primary
endpoint of the study was number of clinical pregnancy, live birth and miscarriage
rates; secondary endpoint was modification of standard IVF parameters, including stimulation
duration (days of rhFSH administration), E2 on HCG-day, endometrial thickness, number
of retrieved oocytes, metaphase II oocytes, number of transferred embryos and score
of leading embryos transferred.
Results
Patients in the DHEA group had a significantly higher live birth rate compared with
controls (P < 0.05). Conversely, miscarriage rate was higher for patients in the control
group (P < 0.05).
Conclusions
DHEA supplementation may significantly improve IVF outcomes in infertile women with
advanced reproductive age and normal ovarian reserve.
