Journal of International Reproductive Health/Family Planning ›› 2025, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (2): 110-115.doi: 10.12280/gjszjk.20240416

• Original Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effect of Half-Dose Antagonist on Pregnancy Outcomes of IVF/ICSI

LU Jue-yun, LI Xin, JI Hui, ZHAO Chun, ZHANG Jun-qiang, LING Xiu-feng()   

  1. Women's Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, Nanjing 210004, China
  • Received:2024-08-29 Published:2025-03-15 Online:2025-03-10
  • Contact: LING Xiu-feng, E-mail: lingxiufeng_njfy@163.com

Abstract:

Obejective: To investigate the effect of the half-dose gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist (GnRH-A) on the clinical pregnancy outcomes of in vitro fertilization/intracytopiasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI). Methods: From January 2016 to April 2023, the clinical data of 6 211 patients who underwent IVF/ICSI in the Reproductive Medicine Center of Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into the half-dose group (0.125 mg/d, 1 796 cases) and the conventional-dose group (0.25 mg/d, 4 415 cases), according to the daily dose of GnRH-A. Propensity scores were calculated using the daily dose of antagonist as the dependent variable to balance the two groups and control the potential confounding factors between the two groups. After matching, 1 796 cases were in each group. The general condition, clinical data, embryo laboratory results, and clinical outcomes of fresh embryo transfer cycle were compared between the two groups. Results: There were no significant differences in the incidence of early luteinizing hormone (LH) peak, clinical pregnancy outcomes of fresh embryo transfer between the two groups after matching (P>0.05). The total dose and total days of antagonist used in the half-dose group were significantly lower than those in the conventional-dose group(P<0.001). However, the quality of D3 cleavage stage embryos in the half-dose group was lower than that in the conventional-dose group (P<0.05), and there was no significant difference in the rate of D5 high-score blastocysts between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusions: In the GnRH-A regimen, the half-dose GnRH-A has the same effect on the suppression of the early LH surge as the conventional dose, and reduces the stimulation intensity and duration of GnRH-A. Further research is need to testify whether the half-dose GnRH-A regimen gets the similar pregnancy outcome of fresh embryo transfer cycles, although the half-dose GnRH-A reduces the quality of D3 cleavage stage embryos when compared with the conventional-dose GnRH-A regimen.

Key words: Gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist, Half-dose, Fertilization in vitro, Sperm injections, intracytoplasmic, Pregnancy outcomes