DHEA Supplementation for Low Ovarian Response IVF Patients

October 24, 2007 updated by: Shaare Zedek Medical Center

Approximately 10% of all couples will be diagnosed as infertile. The most efficient infertility treatment is In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF). One major determinant for success is production of an adequate number of oocytes (eggs) from the female in order to finally have good-quality embryos and finally acceptable pregnancy and delivery rates. Some women will not respond adequately to hormonal stimulation and will only a small number of oocytes. Therefore, the chances of finally having a successful delivery are significantly reduced. Although the specific definition of this situation is controversial, these patients are diagnosed as having "low ovarian response". This condition is more prevalent in older IVF patients as part of the reproductive aging process; it is possible at any age. Currently, the understanding of "low ovarian response" is limited, and although many therapeutic approaches have been suggested, no treatment has been proven significantly efficient.

DHEA is a pro-hormone produced by the adrenal gland and the ovary. DHEA serum levels become lower with age and in some chronic diseases. Therefore, some believe it may be beneficial as an 'anti-aging' factor. DHEA pills are available as a food-supplement, without need for prescription in the US.

DHEA is involved in the regulation of follicular growth in the ovaries. In a 2000 report, five IVF patients who had low ovarian response were treated with oral DHEA (Casson et al, Hum Reprod 2000;15:2129). A small increase in the ovarian response to hormonal stimulation was noticed. Barad and Gleicher reported their relatively extensive experience, summarizing treatment outcome in 25 IVF low-responders treated with oral DHEA pills (Barad and Gleicher, Hum Reprod 2006; 21, 2845). They observed increased increases in fertilized oocytes, normal day 3 embryos, and number of embryos transferred after DHEA treatment compared with a previous treatment outcome before DHEA.

Based on this observation, DHEA may appear useful for improving IVF outcome in some patients. However, a prospective randomized study on DHEA supplementation for IVF patients was not yet published. Our aim is to conduct such a study, focusing on IVF patient with low ovarian response.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 43 years (ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • IVF patient
  • Low ovarian response to hormonal stimulation

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Previous DHEA supplementation
  • History of malignant disease
  • Liver dysfunction
  • Coagulation tendency

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
  • Allocation: RANDOMIZED
  • Interventional Model: PARALLEL
  • Masking: NONE

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: 1
IVF patients who had a low ovarian response in a previous hormonal-stimulation treatment, treated with recombinant FSH and LH.
Dietary supplement: DHEA
oral DHEA tablets 75 mg daily
NO_INTERVENTION: 2
IVF patient who had a low ovarian response in a previous hormonal-stimulation treatment, treated with recombinant FSH and LH.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
number of oocytes retrieved

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
pregnancy rate delivery rate maximal serum estradiol levels ovarian reserve measures

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Shaare Zedek Medical Center

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Ofer Gonen, Meir Hospital, Sapir Medical Center, Kefar-Saba, Israel

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

January 1, 2008

Study Completion

December 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 24, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 24, 2007

First Posted (ESTIMATE)

October 25, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ESTIMATE)

October 25, 2007

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 24, 2007

Last Verified

October 1, 2007

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • DHEA for LR in IVF.CTIL

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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