Pregnancy outcome in long- versus short-acting gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist cycles in participants with normal ovarian reserve: An RCT.

Background: There is no agreement on which of the 2 gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist protocols are the most efficient, neither there is any consensus on which one yields a better clinical pregnancy percentage. Objective: The present study aims to compare the effectiveness of reduced dosages of long- and short-acting GnRH agonists on pregnancy outcomes. Materials and Methods: In this randomized controlled clinical trial, 400 women were randomly assigned to 2 groups (n = 200/group): the reduced dosage of long-acting GnRH agonist group (group 1, 1.25 mg Decapeptyl) and the short-acting GnRH agonist group (group 2, 0.5 mg/day Buserelin Acetate). The study was conducted at Mehr Medical Institute, Rasht, Iran between July 2019 and July 2020. Biochemical and clinical pregnancy were compared between groups. Results: No significant differences were observed in the endometrial lining, the total number of retrieved and metaphase-II oocytes, progesterone, and serum estradiol levels on human chorionic gonadotropin day, fertilization rate, and top-quality embryos between the groups. The duration of induction (10.8 ± 1.7 vs. 10 ± 2.1, p < 0.001) and the total dosage of gonadotropins (2939.4 ± 945.9 vs. 2441 ± 1247.1, p < 0.001) were significantly greater in group 2 than in group 1. No significant differences were observed between the 2 groups in terms of implantation rate, chemical pregnancy rate, and clinical pregnancy rate. A higher percentage of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome was observed in group 2 (p = 0.005). Conclusion: Due to a lower percentage of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome in group 1 and similar assisted reproductive technology outcomes in both groups, the long protocol was found to be superior to the short protocol.

The Effect of Age and AMH Level on ART Outcomes in Patients With Reduced Ovarian Reserve: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Despite many advances, patients with a poor ovarian response to stimulation are one of the most important and challenging factors of infertility. Chronological and ovarian ages are two effective factors responsible for poor response to assisted reproduction treatment. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of age and AMH level on the in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcomes in participants with a reduced ovarian reserve. Methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, 210 participants with anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) < 1.1 ng/ml were included. The effect of age and AMH on pregnancy outcomes including dominant follicle count, serum estradiol level on the day of trigger administration, number of metaphase II (MII) oocytes, number of embryos, biochemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, abortion and live birth rate were evaluated. Results: The number of dominant follicle (p < 0.001), MII oocyte (p < 0.001), grade A (p < 0.001) and B (p < 0.001) embryos, serum estradiol level (p < 0.001), gonadotropin level ( p< 0.001), AMH (p = 0.001), biochemical pregnancy (p = 0.007), clinical (p = 0.01) pregnancy, and live birth rate (p = 0.003) were higher in participants younger than 35 years old. In univariable logistic regression, the chance of retrieving more than 3 oocytes in individuals over 35 years old was 97.1% lower than in individuals younger than 35 years old (p < 0.001). Conclusion: It has been concluded that the higher clinical pregnancy and live birth rate in participants younger than 35 years can be due to the higher AMH level in this group. Under the same conditions of AMH and other variables, age can affect the number of retrieved oocytes.

A comparative study of post-warming survival rates and clinical outcomes of human blastocysts vitrified/warmed by CryoTouch and Cryotop methods.

OBJECTIVE: Advances in embryo culture conditions and the development of vitrification as a revolutionary cryopreservation method have allowed for routine use of blastocyst transfer in assisted reproduction technology (ART) cycles. Several vitrification/warming media and devices have been introduced for commercial use so far. The aim of this retrospective study was to compare post-warming survival rates and clinical outcomes of human blastocysts vitrified/warmed by two different commercial methods (CryoTouch and Cryotop) during ART cycles. METHODS: This retrospective study assessed a total of 50 frozen embryo transfer (FET) cycles conducted on 56 warmed blastocysts between January 2018 and December 2020. Post-warming blastocyst survival rates and clinical outcomes including clinical pregnancy and live birth rates were calculated after single blastocyst transfer cycles. RESULTS: The results revealed no significant differences between two groups in post-warming survival rate (p-value=0.8381), clinical pregnancy rate (p-value=0.8157) and live birth rate (p-value=0.7041). CONCLUSIONS: Post-warming survival rates and clinical outcomes were comparable with no significant difference in blastocysts vitrified/warmed by CryoTouch and Cryotop commercial methods.

The efficiency of low-dose letrozole plus clomiphene citrate for ovulation induction in intrauterine insemination cycles: A randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate if combination therapy with clomiphene citrate (CC) plus letrozole (L) was associated with a higher efficacy than L and CC alone in patients undergoing ovarian induction plus intrauterine insemination. METHODS: The present multicenter randomized controlled clinical trial was performed between 2018 and 2020. Participants were randomized into three groups: L (n = 167; 5 mg/day), CC (n = 167; 100 mg/day), and L + CC (n = 167) (2.5 mg/day + 50 mg/day) from day 3. Ovarian stimulation was continued with the appropriate dose of gonadotropins daily starting from day 8 and continued until follicular size was 20 mm or more followed by administration of human chorionic gonadotropin (10 000 IU). Semen samples were prepared by direct swim-up technique. RESULTS: In the CC group, gonadotropin dose was significantly higher but endometrial thickness was significantly lower compared with other groups. Number of follicles of 18 mm or more was significantly lower in the L group compared with the other two groups. Number of follicles less than 15 mm was meaningfully higher in the CC group compared with the other groups. In the L + CC group, total and largest follicular size, and the rates of chemical, clinical, and ongoing pregnancy, and live birth were significantly higher compared with other groups. CONCLUSION: Combination therapy with L + CC was superior to either L or CC for achieving pregnancy in women undergoing ovarian induction plus intrauterine insemination.

The effect of seasonality on reproductive outcome of patients undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection: A descriptive cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: There is conflicting evidence regarding the impact of season on the assisted reproductive technology outcome. OBJECTIVE: To retrospectively compare three year outcome of women undergoing their first intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycle, across seasons. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 3,670 women who underwent their first intracytoplasmic sperm injection cycle in Mehr Medical Institute, Rasht, Iran between April 2010 and May 2014 were studied. Women were divided into four groups according to the day of oocyte retrival as: spring (n = 808), summer (n = 994), autumn (n = 1066), and winter (n = 802). Basal and stimulation charecteristics were compared among groups. RESULTS: While sperm concentration and motility were significantly lower during summer, the total number of retrieved and metaphase II oocytes were significantly higher (p = 0.0001, p = 0.0001, p = 0.004, p = 0.02, respectively). Fertilization rate were significantly higher during autumn (p = 0.0001). Also, the number of high- quality transferred embryos were significantly higher during summer and winter (p = 0.03). A similar pattern was observed in implantation rate and pregnancy over the four seasons. CONCLUSION: Despite the fact that intracytoplasmic sperm injection minimize the seasonal effect on pregnancy outcome, changes in pregnancy rate still occur among different seasons without particular pattern. It seems that performing assisted reproductive technology procedures in a particular season should be considered as an effective factor.

Hemodynamic parameters and reproductive outcome after intracytoplasmic sperm injection and fresh embryo transfer in patients undergoing oocyte retrieval with general anesthesia using fentanyl, remifentanil or alfentanil - A randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: Anesthesia for assisted reproductive technology is very important to provide less stressful and painful environment for patients, with minimal side effects on oocytes. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate hemodynamic parameters, recovery time and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) outcome among patients underwent anesthesia with fentanyl, remifentanil or alfentanil. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This randomized double-blinded clinical trial was conducted in patients undergoing anesthesia for transvaginal ultrasound guided oocyte retrieval (TUGOR). Patients were randomly allocated to alfentanil (A; 15 µg/kg), fentanyl (F; 1.5 µg/kg) or remifentanil (R; 1.5 µg/kg) groups. RESULTS: Three hundred forty patients were assessed for eligibility and randomized for transvaginal oocyte retrieval following general anesthesia and 105 were lost to follow up. No statistically significant differences were noted among groups regarding basic characteristics. Although, time to respond to verbal command was significantly different among groups (A: 1.99 ± 1.64, F: 2.56 ± 1.72, R: 1.78 ± 1.34, P = 0.014). There were no significant differences among groups with respect to the first and second postoperative pain intensity, patient satisfaction, pre-induction and post-induction systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP). Terminal systolic (A: 101.61 ± 9.15, F: 105.29 ± 12.61, R: 102 ± 12.91, P = 0.01) and diastolic (A: 59.97 ± 9, F: 65.63 ± 9.13, R: 63.69 ± 11.01, P = 0.003) BP was significantly different among groups. The fertilization rate was significantly different among groups (A: 51.6%, F: 54.4%, R: 62.2%, P = 0.018). Implantation rate, biochemical and clinical pregnancy rate was similar among groups. CONCLUSIONS: The results of present study demonstrated that all three opioids have the same efficiency, in regards to patient satisfaction and pregnancy outcome. However, Anesthesia with alfentanil compared with fentanyl and remifentanil, seems to be inferior for TUGOR due to higher effect on fertilization rate and less hemodynamic stability. REGISTRATION NUMBER: IRCT201410258677N4.

Comparing the Impact of Autologous Platelet-rich Plasma and Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor on Pregnancy Outcome in Patients with Repeated Implantation Failure.

BACKGROUND: Despite the advancements in assisted reproductive technologies, repeated implantation failure (RIF) still remains a challenging problem for patients and clinicians. The aim of the present study was to compare the impact of intrauterine infusion of autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and systemic administration of granulocyte colony stimulating factor (GCSF) on pregnancy outcome in patients with repeated implantation failure. METHODS: The present retrospective cohort study included 123 patients with history of more than two repeated failed embryo transfers. Cycles were divided into two groups of intrauterine infusion of PRP (n=67) and systemic administration of GCSF (n=56). Pregnancy outcome was compared between two groups. The p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The clinical pregnancy rate was significantly higher in PRP group than GCSF group (40.3% versus 21.4%, p=0.025). The crud and adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval (CI)) were 2.5 and 2.6 (p=0.025, CI: 1.11-5.53 and p=0.03, CI: 1.10-6.15), respectively. CONCLUSION: It seems that intrauterine infusion of PRP can positively affect pregnancy outcome in RIF patients in comparison with systemic administration of GCSF and more studies need to be designed to conclude the effectiveness of this method.

The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) polymorphisms and the risk of endometriosis in northern Iran.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is known to be a key molecule in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. In this study, we evaluated whether two polymorphisms -460T>C and +405G>C in VEGF are related with the susceptibility to endometriosis in northern Iran. Genomic DNA derived from patients with endometriosis and healthy women were analysed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. The total number of 1080 subjects (480 patients with endometriosis and 600 normal controls) was enrolled into the study. We used the Chi-square (χ(2)) test to evaluate each allele and genotype frequency of -460T>C and +405G>C polymorphisms among the cases and controls. The associations between the polymorphisms and the risk of endometriosis were estimated by odds ratio and their 95% confidence intervals. There was no significant differences in the VEGF -460T>C genotypes and allele frequencies between control women and endometriosis patients (P = 0.63). In contrast, an increased frequency of the +405CC genotype was observed in the patients with endometriosis as compared with the controls. The +405C allele was associated with the presence of endometriosis. It is concluded that the +405G>C polymorphism in VEGF may be associated with higher risk of endometriosis in northern Iran.