• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• 제16권2호
• /
• pp.211-220
• /
• 1989

The aim of this study was to compare the response and their outcome of superovulation induction protocol in IVF-ET program. One hundued seventy seven infertile women were stimulated by FSH/hMG(group I, N=128), clomiphene citrate/hMG(group II, N=51), and hMG(group III, N=18) for the purpose of ovulation induction. The results were as follows; 1. The mean ages of patients were $31.9{\pm}3.8$ in group I, $30.6{\pm}3.3$ in group II, and $29.3{\pm}2.5$ in group III. 2. The day of hCG administration was $11.1{\pm}1.8$ in group I, $12.1{\pm}2.0$ in group II, and $13.7{\pm}6.8$ in group III. The hCG administration day of group III was significantly delayed compared with that of group I (p<0.001). 3. The terminal E2 pattern in group II was different from those of group I and III, but there was no significant difference. 4. The mean numbers of mature eggs aspirated were $5.5{\pm}3.8$ in group I, $5.0{\pm}3.3$ in group II, and $5.6{\pm}5.4$ in group III. There was no significant differences in the mean numbers of mature eggs retrieved among the three groups. 5. The fertilization rate of eggs was significantly higher in group II (67.9%) than that of group I (52.2%)(p<0.001). 6. The cleavage rate of group I (67.0%) was significantly lower than those of group II (93.2%) and group III (95.8%) (p<0.0001). 7. The mean numbers of embryos transfered were $3.3{\pm}1.4$ in group I, $3.1{\pm}1.3$ in group II, and $3.2{\pm}1.6$ in group III and the ET rate was 69.0% in group I, 77.3% in group II, and 100% in group III. There was significant difference in ET rate between group I and group III (p<0.005). 8. The pregnancy rates per OPU cycle or ET cycle were not significantly different among the three groups, but delivered and ongoing pregnancy rates were significantly different between group I (36.8%) and group II (p<88.8%) (p<0.05).

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• 제24권1호
• /
• pp.135-141
• /
• 1997

The early studies demonstrated that the relative amount of FSH was important for stimulating normal ovarian activity and demonstrated the existence of a threshold level for FSH, above which follicular growth was activated. It was found that only a modest increase in circulating FSH level above the threshold (between 10 and 30%) was required to stimulate folliculogenesis. In addition, FSH is primary responsible for initiating estradiol production through the activation of the aromatase enzyme system in granulosa cells, follicular secretion and growth. LH on the other hand, plays a supportive role in ovarian steroidogenesis, stimulating the ovarian thecal cells to produce androgen, the precursor for estradiol synthesis. But there is now an increasing number of reports in the literature demonstrating an adverse effect of LH on fertility and miscarriage in infertile and fertile women. So HP-FSH is the drug of a highly purified FSH preparation which has a higher specific activity and far fewer impurities than FSH. This study was performed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of HP-FSH administered (SC; subcutaneous) versus FSH(IM; intramuscular) for ovulation induction. 20 candidates patients for ovulation induction were participated. All patients underwent pituitary desensitizing with a long gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist protocol and ovulation induction was started with HP-FSH SC (10 patients; group I) or FSH IM (10 patients; group II). After ovulation, outcome of ovulation induction and local reaction of injection site were compared. There were no difference of outcome of ovulation in two groups except pregnancy rate/embryo transfer. Group I had a higher pregnancy rate/ embryo transfer than Group II (44.4% Vs 28.6%). Pain, redness, tenderness, bruising and itching when the injection received on the first 5 days of treated (50 SC and 50 IM injections) were assessed. There were no significant difference (P>0.05) in the incidence of tenderness, bruising and itching between the IM and SC injection. But IM injection (FSH) had a tendency of higher above incidence. The number of reports of pain, redness were significantly increased in IM injection group (P<0.05). These results indicate that SC administration of HP-FSH has been shown to be as effect for superovulation as traditional gonadotropins, with an improved safety profile due to the removal of extaneous proteins.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• 제29권1호
• /
• pp.45-56
• /
• 2002

Objectives: Recently, recombinant FSH (rFSH) has been manufactured using a Chinese hamster ovary cell line transfected with the gene encoding human FSH. Both rFSH and urinary gonadotropin (uFSH) could be used for controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH). However, uFSH implies a number of disadvantages, such as batch-to-batch inconsistency, no absolute source control, dependence on large amounts of urine, low specific activity, and low purity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of rFSH in human IVF-ET program. Materials and Methods: A total of 508 infertile women was enrolled in this study. They are classified into rFSH group (n=177) or uFSH group (n=331), and all of them were matched by age and cause of infertility in same period. The $Puregon^{(R)}$ (Organon, Holland) was used as rFSH, and the Metrodin-$HP^{(R)}$ (Serono, Switzeland) and $Humegon^{(R)}$ (Organon, Holland) was used as uFSH. We subdivided the patients into three age groups. The outcomes of IVF-ET program were analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). Results: There was no significant differences in the level of estradiol on hCG injection day, the numbers of retrieved oocytes, matured oocytes, fertilized oocytes, transferred embryos, frozen embryos between the two groups. The total dose (IU) of gonadotropin for COH was significantly lower in the rFSH group compared to uFSH group ($1339{\pm}5491.1$ vs $2527.8{\pm}1075.2$ IU, p<0.001). Clinical pregnancy rate per embryo transfer in the rFSH group showed increasing tendency, compared to the uFSH group, but there was no statistical significance (35.2% vs 29.3%). Our results demonstrated that the relative efficiency of rFSH compared with uFSH is higher in older patients. Conclusions: The ovarian stimulatory effect and clinical outcome of recombinant FSH was similar to that of the urinary gonadotropin. The IVF-ET cycles with significantly lower dose of gonadotropin in rFSH group showed comparable results. Therefore, we suggest that recombinant FSH is more potent and effective than urinary gonadotropin.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• 제23권3호
• /
• pp.283-292
• /
• 1996

Objective: To determine the cutoff value of clomiphene citrate challenge test(CCCT) that can predict the normal and abnormal(diminished) ovarian response group and to assess the usefulness of CCCT as a predictor of ovarian reserve. Materials and Methods: From March 1994 to Februry 1996, CCCT was performed to 129 infertile patients and among them, 20 patients whose basal FSH on the third day of menstrual cycle was more than 20 mIU/ml were excluded. At the same time, the same CCCT was performed to the fifteen healthy volunteers with proven fertility to determine the cutoff value of CCCT. Results; 1) A FSH value higher than 23.4 mIU/ml, measured on the 10th day of menstrual cycle, was defined as a abnormal ovarian response. The cutoff value of 23.4 mIU/ml is more than 2 standard deviations(SD) above the mean value of 15 healthy women after CCCT. 2) The abnormal CCCT group, the subpopulation with a FSH value of 23.4 mIU/ml or more, was 7.3%(8/109) and their mean age was higher than the normal CCCT group($36.5{\pm}4.5$ vs. $32.9{\pm}4.8$, P = 0.059). And the percentage of the patients older than 35 years of the abnormal CCCT group was significantly higher than that of the normal CCCT group(62.5% vs. 38.6%, p <0.05). 3) There was no correlation between the hormone values of the third day and the 10th day of menstrual cycle before and after CCCT except between FSH of the third day and the 10th day. Conclusion: The CCCT is a good method to predict the individual ovarian response to COH for ART, especially in the patients who has no other abnormal findings that predict poor prognosis. And it is neccessary to determine the cutoff value of CCCT by the large numbers of randomized study, and combining the previously proven prognostic factors, it can be applicated in many individual centers for evaluate the ovarian response before ART program.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
• /
• 제30권4호
• /
• pp.333-340
• /
• 2003

Objective: This study was performed to examine the maturation and the development to the blastocyst stage of immature oocytes collected from patients with high risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). Materials and Methods: Cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were collected following only HCGpriming for non stimulated IVF-ET cycles of the patients. At the time of oocyte collection, COCs were classified into three groups in accordance with their appearance (Group I: oocytes with dispersed cumulus cells; Group II: oocytes with compacted cumulus cells; Group III: oocytes with sparse cumulus cells). The in vitro maturation and blastocyst development rates of the COCs were compared among these groups. From August 2001 to June 2002, 48 IVM/IVF-ET cycles from 42 patients (mean age: $32.4{\pm}3.8$ years) were performed. To prevent the occurrence of OHSS, the patients were primed with 10, 000 IU HCG alone 36 h before oocyte collection without gonadotropin stimulation. Oocytes were aspirated on cycle days from 7 to 13. The normal COCs were classified into three groups according to their appearance. The aspirated immature oocytes were cultured in YS maturation medium containing 30% (v/v) human follicular fluid (HFF), 1 IU/ml FSH, 10 IU/ml HCG and 10 ng/ml rhEGF. Fertilization was induced by intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). All zygotes were co-cultured with cumulus cells in $10{\mu}l$ YS medium containing 10% HFF until day 7 after oocyte collection. Blastocyst transfer was performed on day 5 after ICSI. Results: Th e mean number of oocytes cultured in the IVM/IVF cycles was $24.7{\pm}10.6$. Of 1185 COCs, those assigned to Group I, II and III were 470 (39.7%), 414 (35.0%) and 301 (25.4%), respectively. The maturation rate (94.5%, 444/470, p<0.05) in Group I was significantly higher than those of Group II (62.8%, 260/414) and Group III (73.1%, 220/301). Especially, 30.9% of COCs in Group I (145/470) was matured on the day of oocyte aspiration. There were no differences in the rates of fertilization and cleavage among the three groups. The development rate to the blastocyst stage in Group I (54.6%, 206/377, p<0.05) was also significantly higher than those in Group II (33.0%, 68/206) and Group III (30.1%, 52/173). Twenty-four clinical pregnancies (50.0%) was obtained and 22 pregnancies (45.8%) are ongoing. Implantation rate in the present study was 24.6%. Conclusion: These results suggest that there is a positive correlation between the appearance of COCs and the developmental competence of the immature oocytes in non stimulated IVM/IVF cycles.

• 한국발생생물학회지:발생과생식
• /
• 제13권1호
• /
• pp.1-11
• /
• 2009

착상은 배아측과 모체측의 내분비적, 측분비적 및 자가분비적 인자들의 상호 작용에 의하여 조절된다. 착상의 적기는 $2{\sim}4$일로서 이 특수한 시간대 안에서 signaling, appositioning, attachment 및 invasion을 통하여 순차적으로 배아의 착상이 이루어지는데, 이는 자궁내막과 배아로부터 여러 사이토카인, 성장인자, 부착인자와 같은 다수의 생화학 인자의 생성과 분비를 포함하며 이로 인하여 수용적인 자궁내막이 형성된다. LIF, CSF-1, IL-1과 같은 사이토카인들은 착상을 이끄는 연속적인 사건에서 중요한 역할을 수행하며 integrin, L-selectin ligands, glycodelin, mucin-1, HB-EGF, pinopodes는 appositioning과 attachment에 관여한다. 배아 또한 사이토카인과 성장인자 및 LIF, CSF-1, IGF, HB-EGF에 대한 수용체들을 분비하여 능동적으로 대처한다. 자궁내막의 수용성을 평가하고 자연주기 또는 보조생식술을 이용한 임신의 예후를 예측하는데, 이와 같은 인자들이 유용한지는 앞으로 더 연구되어야 한다. 현재로서는 내막조직으로부터 채취한 integrins, pinopodes, glycodelin, LIF가, 자궁강내 세척액에서는 glycodelin과 LIF가 유망한 인자로 떠오르고 있다. 혈액내 마커로서는 VEGF, glycodelin, CSF가 약간의 연관성을 보여주고 있다. 이러한 인자들이 보조생식술 전후로 자궁내막의 기능과 임신의 예후를 평가하는 선별검사로 이용될 수 있는지를 증명하기 위해서는 향후 불임 여성과 대조군인 가임 여성을 대상으로 한 대규모의 연구가 필요할 것이다. 인간의 착상에서 이들 인자들의 기능을 충분히 이해해야 치료적 기법으로 연결되어 보조생식술에서도 더 높은 성공률을 이루어 낼 것으로 사료된다.