Effects Of Growth Hormone Supplementation In Poor Responders Undergoing In Vitro Fertilization/Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Treatment

ObjectiveTo evaluate the effects of growth hormone(GH)supplementation on in vitro fertilization(IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection(ICSI)outcomes in infertile patients with poor ovarian response(POR).Materials and MethodsRetrospective analysis of all the clinical outcomes of 225 infertile Chinese women who visited Infertility Clinics at Women,s Hospital,School of Medicine,Zhejiang University,for IVF/ICSI treatment from the beginning of January 2010 to the end of December 2014.According to Bologna consensus criteria,these all patients were classified as poor ovarian responders(POR).The 107 patients in the study group received GH co-treated with a GnRH agonist long protocol undergoing in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection(IVF/ICSI)treatment.There were 118 patients without GH co-treatment in the control group,all the other treatments are as same.Also,taking the age of the POR patients into consideration,to analysis the outcomes of elder patients(?40 years old)with GH co-treatment or not.So does the younger patients(<40 years old).ResultsWe found that GH supplementation significantly increased the number of retrieved oocytes and the number of matured and fertilized oocytes in women with POR,resulting in significant improvements in the number of available embryos,high-quality embryos,and implantation rate.However,the clinical pregnancy rate and live birth rate were not significantly different between the two groups.In the group of younger POR patients(<40 years old),number of retrieved oocytes,fertilized oocytes,and high-quality embryos were significantly higher when eo-treated with GH,as well as the increase in pre-hCG E2 level.In the group of older patients(>40 years old),pre-hCG P4 level 1s significantly decreased while co-treated with GH,and increasing number of frozen embryos was only found in the elder patients.In addition,GH co-treatment significantly increased the implantation rate and pregnancy rate only in elder POR patients.ConclusionGH supplementation in predicted poor responders undergoing IVF/ICSI cycles signifieantly improves the quality of oocytes and embryo,as well as implantation rate.In elder POR(?40 years old)patients,pregnancy rate evidently rise while co-treated with GH,which may be the main target group for the GH supplementation in the future.