Use of Human Growth Hormone in IVF Cycles for Patients over 40

Maximizing success rates in more biologically advanced age brackets has always been a challenge in IVF treatments. Patients above the age of 35 start facing a sharp decline in their ovarian function and this decline becomes much sharper after the age of 40. Over the past couple of decades, we have witnessed introduction of several new “methods” and “strategies” in an attempt to increase pregnancy rates in patients over 40. While some of these methods contribute to success, some others seem to have no significant effect.

One of the promising modifications of IVF treatments was to use the human growth hormone (HGH) as part of an IVF medication regimen. While the industry had high hopes for the impact of HGH on IVF outcomes, the initial results were rather disappointing. After a series of dose adjustments and many other attempts, the results were still not as well as what scientists had originally planned.

In theory, growth hormone should contribute positively to IVF outcomes in terms of oocyte count and quality. However, evidence from the preliminary work suggests that rather than increasing the dosage, administration of the human growth hormone should be done in consideration of folliculogenesis. Previous studies introudced HGH during or immediately before an IVF cycle. The hypothesis with this modified version rests on the fact that follicles are more sensitized at different phases of development and the precise length of folliculogenesis contains the necessary information on when follicles containing oocytes can be best manipulated through external means.

At North Cyprus IVF, we have now started offering this modified and excelled version of human growth hormone administration for patients over the age of 40. Expected benefits of this protocol is as follows:

– Decreased aneuploidy rates in embryos created in vitro
– Increased implantation and pregnancy rates with oocytes subjected to HGH

While we do not expect much increase with the actual oocyte count, our expectation is that the oocytes obtained via our new modified therapy will generate chromosomally euploid embryos which will improve pregnancy outcomes significantly for the 40+ age group.

While this is being run as a clinical trial in the United States, which won’t finalize until 2017, North Cyprus IVF Center is proud to offer this modified protocol starting in December 2015. For more information, please contact us.