Efficacy of a combined protocol of urinary and recombinant follicle-stimulating hormone used for ovarian stimulation of patients undergoing ICSI cycle

Abstract

Purpose To evaluate the efficacy of using both urinary and recombinant FSH in a combined protocol for ovarian stimulation in an IVF treatment program. Method A total of 119 infertile couples undergoing ICSI treatment were randomized prospectively in this study. After a standard down-regulation with GnRH analogue, the patients were randomized in 2 groups 58 received combined urinary and recombinant FSH, starting with uFSH and then rFSH, and 61 controls received only recombinant FSH. Result(s) Pregnancy and implantation rates were significantly higher in the combined uFSH/rFSH group than the control (rFSH) group (43.9% vs 22.1% and 27.5% vs 13.2% respectively). Metaphase II oocyte and grade 1 embryos were significantly higher in favour of combined uFSH/rFSH group than the recombinant FSH group. Conclusion(s) This study shows that using a combination of both urinary and recombinant FSH for ovarian stimulation improves oocyte maturity and embryo cleavage, and increases pregnancy and implantation rates.

Ovarian stimulation protocols based on follicle-stimulating hormone glycosylation pattern: impact on oocyte quality and clinical outcome

“…The miscarriage rates were also similar in all groups. These results support previous studies which have demonstrated that stimulation with the sequential protocol is highly efficacious in terms of oocyte quality, embryo quality, and pregnancy and implantation rates compared with stimulation with less-acidic recombinant FSH alone (47,48).…”

Sequential (hFSH + recFSH) vs homogenous (hFSH or recFSH alone) stimulation: clinical and biochemical (cumulus cell gene expression) aspects

“…Our results showed that this strategy led to a trend towards a higher, even if not significant pregnancy rate, as mentioned earlier [26][27][28]. The use of hFSH yields the same results as the use of recombinant FSH, in agreement with several other authors [26,27].…”

Urinary hMG (Meropur) versus recombinant FSH plus recombinant LH (Pergoveris) in IVF: a multicenter, prospective, randomized controlled trial

“…Studies have carefully compared treatment characteristics and outcomes in patients treated with different medications (16)(17)(18)(19). Urinary hMG contains 75 IU FSH and 75 IU LH, whereas recombinant FSH is completely free from any LH.…”