Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology
Published in: Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology 1/2009

Open Access 01-12-2009 | Research

Early hCG addition to rFSH for ovarian stimulation in IVF provides better results and the cDNA copies of the hCG receptor may be an indicator of successful stimulation

Authors: Peter Drakakis, Dimitris Loutradis, Apostolos Beloukas, Vana Sypsa, Vasiliki Anastasiadou, George Kalofolias, Helen Arabatzi, Erasmia Kiapekou, Konstantinos Stefanidis, Dimitris Paraskevis, Antonis Makrigiannakis, Angelos Hatzakis, Aris Antsaklis

Published in: Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology | Issue 1/2009

Login to get access

Abstract

A simple, safe and cost-effective treatment protocol in ovarian stimulation is of great importance in IVF practice, especially in the case of previous unsuccessful attempts. hCG has been used as a substitute of LH because of the degree of homology between the two hormones. The main aim of this prospective randomized study was to determine, for the first time, whether low dose hCG added to rFSH for ovarian stimulation could produce better results compared to the addition of rLH in women entering IVF-ET, especially in those women that had previous IVF failures. An additional aim was to find an indicator that would allow us to follow-up ovarian stimulation and, possibly, modify it in order to achieve a better IVF outcome; and that indicator may be the cDNA copies of the LH/hCG receptor. Group A patients (n = 58) were administered hCG and Group B rLH (n = 56) in addition to rFSH in the first days of ovarian stimulation. The number of follicles and oocytes and, most importantly, implantation and pregnancy rates were shown to be statistically significantly higher in the hCG group. This study has also determined, for the first time to our best knowledge, m-RNA for LH/hCG receptors in the lymphocytes of peripheral blood 40 h before ovum pick-up. cDNA levels of the hCG receptor after ovarian stimulation were significantly higher among women receiving hCG compared to those receiving LH. In addition, higher levels were encountered among women with pregnancy compared to those without, although this was not statistically significant due to the small number of pregnancies. It seems that hCG permits a highly effective and more stable occupancy of rLH/hCG receptors and gives more follicles and more oocytes. The determination of cDNA copies could be, in the future, a marker during ovulation induction protocols and of course a predictor for the outcome of ART in the special subgroup of patients with previous failures.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
1.
Shoham Z, Schacter M, Loumaye E, Weissman A, MacNamee M, Insler V: The luteinizing hormone surge--the final stage in ovulation induction: modern aspects of ovulation triggering. Fertil Steril. 1995, 64: 237-251.PubMed
2.
Chandrasekher YA, Hutchison JS, Zelinski-Wooten MB, Hess DL, Wolf DP, Stouffer RL: Initiation of periovulatory events in primate follicles using recombinant and native human luteinizing hormone to mimic the midcycle gonadotropin surge. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1994, 79: 298-306. 10.1210/jc.79.1.298.PubMed
3.
Yen SSC, Llenera G, Little B, Casper RF: Disappearance rate of endogenous luteinizing hormone and chorionic gonadotropin in man. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1968, 28: 1763-1767. 10.1210/jcem-28-12-1763.CrossRefPubMed
4.
Weissman A, Lurie S, Zalel Y, Goldchmit R, Shoham Z: Human chorionic gonadotropin: pharmacokinetics of subcutaneous administration. Gynecol Endocrinol. 1996, 10: 273-276. 10.3109/09513599609012319.CrossRefPubMed
5.
Filicori M, Fazleabas AT, Huhtaniemi I, Licht P, Rao ChV, Tesarik J, Zygmunt M: Novel concepts of human chorionic gonadotropin: reproductive system interactions and potential in the management of infertility. Fertil Steril. 2005, 84: 275-284. 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2005.02.033.CrossRefPubMed
6.
Durnerin CI, Erb K, Fleming R, Hillier H, Hillier SG, Howles CM, Hugues JN, Lass A, Lyall H, Rasmussen P, Thong J, Traynor I, Westergaard L, Yates R, Luveris Pretreatment Group: Effects of recombinant LH treatment on folliculogenesis and responsiveness to FSH stimulation. Hum Reprod. 2008, 23 (2): 421-6. 10.1093/humrep/dem388. Epub 2007 Dec 15CrossRefPubMed
7.
Revised American Fertility Society classification of endometriosis. Fertil Steril. 1985, 43: 351-2.
8.
Filicori M, Cognigni GE, Gamberini E, Parmegiani L, Troilo E, Roset B: Efficacy of low-dose human chorionic gonadotropin alone to complete controlled ovarian stimulation. Fertil Steril. 2005, 84: 394-401. 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2005.02.036.CrossRefPubMed
9.
Loutradis D, Drakakis P, Kallianidis K, Bletsa R, Milingos S, Makris N, Michalas S: The effect of the duration of GnRH-agonist down regulation before ovarian stimulation on the biological and clinical outcome after intracytoplasmic sperm injection. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 1998, 80: 251-255. 10.1016/S0301-2115(98)00125-0.CrossRefPubMed
10.
Patsoula E, Loutradis D, Drakakis P, Michalas L, Bletsa R, Michalas S: Messenger RNA expression for the follicle-stimulating hormone receptor and luteinizing hormone receptor in human oocytes and preimplantation-stage embryos. Fertil Steril. 2003, 79: 1187-1193. 10.1016/S0015-0282(03)00071-2.CrossRefPubMed
11.
Patsoula E, Loutradis D, Drakakis P, Kallianidis K, Bletsa R, Michalas S: Expression of mRNA for the LH and FSH receptors in mouse oocytes and preimplantation embryos. Reproduction. 2001, 121: 455-461. 10.1530/rep.0.1210455.CrossRefPubMed
12.
Aboulghar MA, Mansour RT: Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome: classifications and critical analysis of preventivemeasures. Hum Reprod Update. 2003, 9 (3): 275-89. 10.1093/humupd/dmg018.CrossRefPubMed
13.
Rao CV: Multiple novel roles of luteinising hormone. Fertil Steril. 2001, 76: 1097-1100. 10.1016/S0015-0282(01)02863-1.CrossRefPubMed
14.
Filicori M, Cognigni GE, Taraborrelli S, Spettoli D, Ciampaglia W, de Fatis CT: Luteinizing hormone activity supplementation enhances follicle stimulating hormone efficiency and improves ovulation induction outcome. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1999, 84: 2659-2663. 10.1210/jc.84.8.2659.PubMed
15.
Nyboe Andersen A, Humaidan P, Fried G: T.H.E. Nordic rLH study group. Addition of rLH (Luveris) to rFSH during the final days of follicular maturation in IVF/ICSI treated patients. A Nordic randomized multicenter trial. Hum Reprod, Abstract Book, 22nd Annual Meeting of the ESHRE, Prague, Czech Republic. 2006, Abstract No 0-138
16.
Barrenetxea G, Agirregoikoa JA, Jiménez MR, de Larruzea AL, Ganzabal T, Carbonero K: Ovarian response and pregnancy outcome in poor-responder women: a randomized controlled trial on the effect of luteinizing hormone supplementation on in vitro fertilization cycles. Fertil Steril. 2008, 89 (3): 546-53. 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2007.03.088.CrossRefPubMed
17.
Drakakis P, Loutradis D, Kallianidis K, Liapi A, Milingos S, Makrigiannakis A, Dionyssiou-Asteriou A, Michalas S: Small doses of LH activity are needed early in ovarian stimulation for better quality oocytes in IVF-ET. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2005, 121: 77-80. 10.1016/j.ejogrb.2004.12.021.CrossRefPubMed
18.
Zeleznik AJ, Hillier SG: The role of gonadotropins in the selection of the preovulatory follicle. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 1984, 27: 927-40. 10.1097/00003081-198412000-00014.CrossRefPubMed
19.
Hillier SG, Whitelaw PF, Smyth CD, Hillier SG, Whitelaw PF, Smyth CD: Follicular oestrogen synthesis: the 'two-cell, two-gonadotrophin' model revisited. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 1994, 100: 51-54. 10.1016/0303-7207(94)90278-X.CrossRefPubMed
20.
Emperaire JC, Edwards RG: Time to revolutionize the triggering of ovulation. Reprod Biomed Online. 2005, 9: 80-83.
21.
Emperaire JC, Parneix I, Ruffied A: Luteal phase defects following agonist-triggered ovulation: a patient-dependant response. Reprod Biomed Online. 2004, 9: 22-27. 10.1016/S1472-6483(10)62105-0.CrossRefPubMed
22.
Funaro A, Sapino A, Ferranti B, Horenstein AL, Castellano I, Bagni B, Garotta G, Malavasi F: Functional, structural, and distribution analysis of the chorionic gonadotropin receptor using murine monoclonal antibodies. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2003, 88: 5537-5546. 10.1210/jc.2003-030977.CrossRefPubMed
23.
Menon KM, Munshi UM, Clouser CL, Nair AK: Regulation of luteinizing hormone/human chorionic gonadotropin receptor expression; A perspective. Biol Reprod. 2004, 70: 861-866. 10.1095/biolreprod.103.024471.CrossRefPubMed
24.
Minegishi T, Tano M, Abe Y, Nakamura K, Ibuki Y, Miyamoto K: Expression of luteinizing hormone/human chorionic gonadotrophin (LH/HCG) receptor mRNA in the human ovary. Mol Hum Reprod. 1997, 3 (2): 101-107. 10.1093/molehr/3.2.101.CrossRefPubMed
Metadata
Title
Early hCG addition to rFSH for ovarian stimulation in IVF provides better results and the cDNA copies of the hCG receptor may be an indicator of successful stimulation
Authors
Peter Drakakis
Dimitris Loutradis
Apostolos Beloukas
Vana Sypsa
Vasiliki Anastasiadou
George Kalofolias
Helen Arabatzi
Erasmia Kiapekou
Konstantinos Stefanidis
Dimitris Paraskevis
Antonis Makrigiannakis
Angelos Hatzakis
Aris Antsaklis
Publication date
01-12-2009
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology / Issue 1/2009
Electronic ISSN: 1477-7827
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1477-7827-7-110

Other articles of this Issue 1/2009

Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology 1/2009 Go to the issue

Research

Expression of genes associated with immunity in the endometrium of cattle with disparate postpartum uterine disease and fertility

Research

Increases in norepinephrine release and ovarian cyst formation during ageing in the rat

Research

Altered microRNA expression in patients with non-obstructive azoospermia

Research

Modulation of cytokines and transcription factors (T-Bet and GATA3) in CD4 enriched cervical cells of Chlamydia trachomatis infected fertile and infertile women upon stimulation with chlamydial inclusion membrane proteins B and C

Research

The impact of cocaine and heroin on the placental transfer of methadone

Research

Participation of ezrin in bacterial uptake by trophoblast giant cells