Finding at least one high quality egg is the most important factor in achieving a successful pregnancy. In previous blog posts, I have outlined various strategies to achieve that goal. But what about women whose ovaries do not respond well to standard ovarian stimulation protocols? For them treatment can sometimes seem frustrating or even futile. New data supports that “ovarian priming” may help women with diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) achieve that goal even if they have a history of poor response to IVF treatment.
The common theme of Advanced Reproductive Treatments (ART) is to produce a group of mature healthy eggs in order to create at least one or more healthy embryos. In 2011 a large consensus meeting agreed upon the definition of a ‘poor response’ to ovarian stimulation and described it as three or fewer oocytes recovered with a conventional IVF protocol. Pregnancies do occur when even one egg is recovered. However, success rates are markedly lower in patients with DOR. The goal of creating this definition was to encourage research on how we can better serve women with this biological challenge.
The most common reason for DOR is a simple depletion in the number of eggs secondary to aging. However new information now suggests that the quality of the remaining eggs is also impacting their ability to respond to the hormonal signals and thus limiting the ability of the ovaries to produce multiple follicles. The goal of preparing or “priming” the potential population of eggs prior to IVF is to optimize the ability of the ovaries to respond prior to starting the hormonal stimulation. Several strategies for priming have been used for the last several years with much debate about which (if any) is best. The FOLLPRIM study was designed to compare them in patients with an established history of DOR.
The FOLLPRIM study was a randomized prospective study intended to minimize the risk of bias based upon protocol selection. Patients that had failed an IVF attempt were randomly assigned to one of three priming protocols prior to their next IVF attempt. They were either given estradiol (to simulate the cycle of young fertile women), an oral contraceptive (to synchronize follicle development) or testosterone (which serves as a precursor to estradiol as well as to help promote the earlier stages of egg development). The patients then repeated their IVF cycle with a comparison of number of eggs recovered after priming compared to their initial response without priming. The results were very encouraging.
They found that all three strategies increased the number of mature eggs that were recovered through IVF compared to the unprimed cycle. In fact, they averaged two to three more eggs per patient. Although it was uncertain which priming protocol had the highest pregnancy rate, the data suggested that the testosterone priming might be the best. Further research will be needed to determine if this is true. In fact, another technique (not tested in this study) to boost testosterone levels is to give women the supplement DHEA for one to three months prior to IVF. Many centers have adopted this strategy as well.
What’s most important about this research is that women with DOR are being given choices rather than simply discouraged or re-directed to egg donors. Ovarian priming prior to IVF is one option that should be considered. Combined with other tools like anti-oxidants and CoQ10, more women are overcoming this biological challenge of DOR and having healthy babies.
[r1]Link to http://humrep.oxfordjournals.org/content/26/7/1616.full.pdf+html
[r2]Link to http://www.pubfacts.com/detail/25955224/Antral-follicle-priming-FOLLPRIM-prior-to-ICSI-in-previously-diagnosed-low-responders-A-randomized-c
Enhancing Fertility 