Abstract:

INTRODUCTION: Female age is the most important factor determining success in Assisted reproductive technologies (ART) cycles. The objective in this study was to observe how growth hormone (GH) supplementation affects ART outcome parameters in advanced age women (40 years and above). METHODS: This retrospective study involved 807 patients of age 40 years and older who applied to the tertiary ART clinic between January 01, 2018, and December 31, 2021. Only the first ın vitro fertilisation cycles of the cases were taken into consideration in the study. The study group involved 56 cases which received GH supplementation and the control group involved 751 cases which received conventional ovarian stimulation. The cycles of 177 patients (seven patients in the study group and 170 patients in the control group) were canceled because of inadequate ovarian response, lack of oocytes or fertilization failure. In the GH group, patients used 4 mg recombinant Somadotropin (Saizen 12 mg/1.5 mL, Merck Germany) for 3 days starting from the 2nd or 3rd day of menstruation. RESULTS: Although the duration of infertility was longer in the group that received GH (6.07±4.91 vs. 4.43±4.70), the total amount of gonadotropin usage was lower than control group (4734.00±76.76 vs. 5191, International unit [IU]±743.70). The rate of cycles cancelled, total number of oocytes retrieved, total number of Metaphase II oocytes, rate of oocyte maturation, number of 2PN, rate of fertilization, embryo utilization rate, and number of transferable embryos were similar in the two groups. While the pregnancy rates were comparable, the live birth rate was observed to be higher in the GH group (5.8% vs. 18.8% p=0.013). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: In women aged 40 years and older, GH supplementation is associated with lower amount of gonadotropins usage for ovarian stimulation and higher live birth rates.

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