A new hormonal treatment could lead to more effective egg collection during in vitro fertilisation treatment, researchers will tell a conference today.
The treatment currently involves injections with human chorionic gonadotropin, a hormone that encourages ovaries to create mature eggs. But about 2% of patients having this treatment develop a potentially life-threatening side effect called ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome.
Patients with polycystic ovarian syndrome are at a higher risk of this condition. Up to 25% develop ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome due to treatment with human chorionic gonadotropin.
A team based at Imperial College London, UK, investigated the hormone kisspeptin as a potentially safer and more effective way for harvesting eggs.
In their study, they gave kisspeptin at different doses to 60 women as an alternative hormone to human chorionic gonadotropin and found that it did not trigger ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome in any women, including those with polycystic ovarian syndrome.
The participants’ eggs were harvested 36 hours later, and once fertilised, two resulting embryos were implanted in each woman. Across all doses of kisspeptin, the average live birth rate was 45%.
Details of their study are presented today (4 November) at the annual conference of the Society for Endocrinology, held in Edinburgh, UK. The team point out that larger clinical studies are needed to determine whether kisspeptin leads to a higher live birth rate than human chorionic gonadotropin.
Lead author, Dr Ali Abbara says: "In vitro fertilisation is an effective therapy for couples affected by infertility, but it can result in ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome, which is a potentially life-threatening side effect. We have shown that using kisspeptin in place of conventional drugs used during in vitro fertilisation treatment safely matures eggs, even in women at high risk."
Abbara, A. et al. Kisspeptin-54 safely and effectively triggers oocyte maturation during IVF treatment in women at high risk of developing ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. Presented on 4 November at the Society for Endocrinology’s annual conference 2015.
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