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Women with diminished ovarian response undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) may benefit from testosterone therapy, according to a study presented at ENDO 2017: the 99th Annual Meeting & Expo, April 1-4, in Orlando, Florida.
Researchers from the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Moscow, Russia, and the Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, aimed to evaluate the efficacy of testosterone treatment prior to controlled ovarian stimulation on women with poor ovarian response who are undergoing IVF.
Primary end points of the study were clinical pregnancy and live birth rates in each age group.
Study participants (n=149) were divided into 2 groups: the first received testosterone undecanoate (TU; 40 mg daily) therapy (n=98), the second was the control group (n=51).
Women in the TU group received oral medication for at least 40 days (median: 54 days) prior to controlled ovarian stimulation. Each group was divided into 2 subgroups (women 40 and younger vs women 40 and older) to allow the researchers to perform further analysis.
The investigators noted no significant difference in dose of follicle-stimulating hormone or total gonadotropins in the 2 groups. In the TU group, there was a significant increase in the number of oocytes retrieved (2 vs 1; P =.04); clinical pregnancy and live birth rates were also significantly higher in this group (24.5% vs 7.8%; P =.015 and 17.3% vs 5.9%; P =.07).
For subgroup analyses, women younger than 40 in the TU group experienced higher clinical pregnancy and live birth rates compared to the same women in the control group (38% vs 8.7%; P <.001 and 29.3% vs 6.5% P <.01, respectively). No difference was noted among women older than 40.
“[Women 40 years and older] may need more prolonged pretreatment with TU for better success,” the researchers concluded.
Reference
Mskhalaya G, Eltsova E, Malysheva M, et al. Testosterone treatment in poor ovarian responders undergoing IVF: fertility and live birth rates. Abstract SAT 097. Presented at: ENDO 2017; April 1-4, 2017; Orlando, Florida.
