Novel concepts for inducing final oocyte maturation in IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) Treatment.

Novel concepts for inducing final oocyte maturation in IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) Treatment. Endocr Rev. 2018 Jul 02;: Authors: Abbara A, Clarke SA, Dhillo WS Abstract Infertility affects 1 in 6 of the population and increasingly couples require treatment with assisted reproductive techniques (ART). In vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment is most commonly conducted using exogenous FSH to induce follicular growth and human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) to induce final oocyte maturation. However, hCG may cause the potentially life-threatening iatrogenic complication 'ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome' (OHSS), which can cause significant morbidity and rarely even mortality in otherwise healthy women. The use of GnRH agonists (GnRHa) has been pioneered over the last two decades to provide a safer option to induce final oocyte maturation. More recently, the neuropeptide kisspeptin, a hypothalamic regulator of GnRH release, has been investigated as a novel inductor of oocyte maturation.The hormonal stimulus used to induce oocyte maturation has a major impact on the success (retrieval of oocytes and chance of implantation) and safety (risk of OHSS) of IVF treatment. This review aims to appraise experimental and clinical data of hormonal approaches used to induce final oocyte maturation by either hCG, GnRHa, both GnRHa and hCG administered in combination, recombinant LH, or kisspeptin. We also examine evidence for the timing of administrati...
Source: Endocrine Reviews - Category: Endocrinology Tags: Endocr Rev Source Type: research