THE AIM OF THE STUDY
Study of the effectiveness of androgen priming in infertile patients with reduced ovarian reserve (OR) in ART programs (IVF/ICSI)
MATERIAL AND METHODS
A prospective cohort study included patients with infertility and reduced OR treated in assisted reproductive technology (ART) programs using in vitro fertilization (IVF). Based on the ESHRE criteria (Bologna criteria, 2011), the study group included 200 patients with infertility and SOR, among whom a treatment group was identified that received androgenic priming (12.5 mg of transdermal 1% testosterone (AndroGel 50 mg, Besin Healthcare, Belgium) for 1 month before the IVF/ICSI program. All patients have had a hormonal study of their androgenic profile by the immunochemiluminescent analysis (ICLA) and analysis of the parameters of oogenesis and embryogenesis.
RESULTS
Against the background of androgen priming with an androgen-containing gel, a statistically significant increase in the androstenedione concentration from 1.9±0.1 to 5.6±0.6 nmol/L (p<0.001) was observed in women with infertility and SOR. A statistically significant improvement in the indicators of oo- and embryogenesis was also noted: increase in the number of oocytes from 3.0 to 4.1 (p<0.001), the number of mature oocytes from 1.74 to 3.1 (p<0.001), zygotes from 1, 1 to 2.2 (p<0.001), blastocyst number from 0.7 to 1.5 (p<0.001), blastulation rate from 20 to 36.6% (p<0.001). There was a tendency of increasing the pregnancy rate from 8.8% to 14.3% (p=0.22).
CONCLUSION
Priming with a testosterone-containing gel improves the main indicators of the embryological stage in the IVF/ICSI program by the increasing of the number of mature oocytes, fertilization rate, blastocyst number and blastulation rate in patients with infertility and reduced ovarian reserve.