Administration of DHEA in Patients With Poor Response to Ovarian Stimulation for IVF

Diminished Ovarian Reserve Clinical Trial

— DHEA  

Official title:

Prospective Randomized Trial on the Effect of DHEA Administration in Women With Poor Ovarian Reserve Undergoing Controlled Ovarian Stimulation for IVF. Impact on Stimulation Characteristics and and Pregnancy Outcome.

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Not yet recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT02099916
• Other study ID #: NV04222014
• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Phase: Phase 2/Phase 3
• First received: March 26, 2014
• Last updated: September 9, 2014
• Start date: October 2014
• Est. completion date: December 2015

Study information

• Verified date: September 2014
• Source: University of Athens
• Contact: Nikos vlahos, MD
• Phone: 30 210 7286000
• Email: nikosvlahos[@]med.uoa.gr
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: Greece: Ethics Committee
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Poor responders to ovarian stimulation represents one of the most frustrating problems in reproductive medicine. The investigators hypothesize that ovarian response of those patients could improve by treating these patients with 25 mg DHEA tid for 12 weeks prior to stimulation.

Description:

Patients diagnosed with poor ovarian response will be included in the study. The definition of poor response was based on the presence of at least one of the following criteria: Age > 40 years old, day 2 FSH >9.5 mIU/ml, AMH < 2ng/ml ,at least one previous COH with less than 3 oocytes retrieved, at least one cancelled attempt due to poor response, estradiol less than 500 pg/ml on the day of HCG. All patients will be counseled regarding their prognosis and other treatment options including oocyte donation as well as adoption were also presented and discussed in detail. All patients will be aware that the use of DHEA is experimental and informed consent was obtained for those agreeing to use the medication. Women in the DHEA group will receive 25 mg of DHEA three times a day for at least 12 weeks. During this period, women will be subjected to monthly measurements of early follicular phase FSH and estradiol. Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) will be measured prior to the initiation of treatment and at the end of the observation period. Patients will be stimulated with a short GnRH-antagonist protocol. Briefly, all women will have measurements of serum FSH and estradiol and a pelvic sonogram on the second day of their cycle. Providing that serum FSH is < 17 mIU/ml and estradiol is < 70 pg/ml on day 2 , ovarian stimulation will be initiated with 450 IU of gonadotropins either in the form of a combination of highly purified urinary FSH and LH or with a combination of Rec FSH and Rec LH. All patients will be re-evaluated on day 5 of the stimulation, and dosage adjustments will be made and the antagonists (Cetrorelix or ganirelix 0.25 mg/day) will be initiated. When at least 2 follicles reach an average diameter of 17 mm, final oocyte maturation will be triggered with 10,000IU of hCG ( Pregnyl, Organon, Greece Inc.). Oocyte retrieval will be performed 34 to 36 hours later. All patients will undergo ICSI. Patients with successful fertilization will have embryo transfer under sonographic guidance on day 3 after retrieval.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Enrollment: 50
• Est. completion date: December 2015
• Est. primary completion date: December 2014
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: Female
• Age group: 20 Years to 50 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Women with poor response to ovarian stimulation. The definition of poor response was based on the presence of at least one of the following criteria: Age > 40 years old, day 2 FSH >9.5 mIU/ml, AMH < 2ng/ml ,at least one previous COH with less than 3 oocytes retrieved, at least one cancelled attempt due to poor response, estradiol less than 500 pg/ml on the day of HCG.

Exclusion Criteria:

• All other women that do not fulfill the above mentioned criteria

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Safety/Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Single Blind (Outcomes Assessor), Primary Purpose: Treatment

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Changes in AMH
• Diminished Ovarian Reserve
• Efficacy of DHEA
• Pregnancy Rate

Intervention

Drug:
• gonadotropins plus DHEA
Women in the DHEA group will received 25 mg of DHEA three times a day for at least 12 weeks.
• Gonadotropins
All patients will be stimulated with a fixed GnRH-antagonist protocol. Ovarian stimulation will be initiated with 450 IU of gonadotropins either in the form of a combination of highly purified urinary FSH and LH or with a combination of Rec FSH and Rec LH.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
n/a

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Athens	Lito Maternity Hospital

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	clinical pregnancy	At the completion of the ovarian stimulation patients that will proceed to transfer and have a positive pregnancy test will have sonographic evaluation for confirmation of clinical pregnancy.	At 12 weeks after DHEA administration and at 18 months	No
Secondary	changes in ovarian reserve indexes		6 months	No