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Effect of Dexamethasone Co-Treatment During Ovarian Stimulation in Women of Different Reproductive Age With Elevated Early Follicular Phase Progesterone Level: a Prospective Longitudinal Study

  • Regenerative Medicine: Original Article
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Abstract

The aim of this paper was to estimate the effect of dexamethasone during ovarian stimulation in women of different reproductive age with elevated early follicular phase progesterone level undergoing fresh IVF cycle. This study is a prospective longitudinal analysis of consecutive women who underwent fresh IVF cycles at a single center, between January 2012 to December 2013. Women with early follicular phase progesterone above 0.50 ng/ml, assessed in day 0 or day 5 of stimulation, were included. Study group (n = 113) included women who underwent dexamethasone supplementation until the day of triggering. Women who did not undergo dexamethasone treatment formed the control group (n = 109). We further stratified our study population according to age ranges: (1) ≤ 34 years, (2) between 35 and 39 years, and (3) ≥ 40 years. Significantly lower progesterone levels were observed in study than in control group (0.59 ± 0.21 vs 0.94 ± 0.42, p < 0.001). Such difference is not observed in women above 39 years old. Higher, albeit not significant, live birth rate was detected in the study versus control group, considering the overall population. In women ≤ 34 years old, a significantly higher live birth rate was observed in women who underwent dexametasone treatment than in the control group (67.5% vs 47.2%, p = 0.04). Conversely, live birth rates were similar between groups in women above 34 years old. Our data suggest that dexamethasone helps to modulate progesterone levels during the follicular phase and might improve live birth rate of women below 34 years old.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive Science and Odontostomatology, University of Naples Federico II, 80131, Naples, Italy

    Alessandro Conforti, Luigi Carbone & Carlo Alviggi

  2. ANDROFERT, Andrology and Human Reproduction Clinic, Campinas, Brazil

    Sandro C. Esteves

  3. Department of Surgery (Division of Urology), University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil

    Sandro C. Esteves

  4. Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad (IVI), Rome, Italy

    Antonio Pellicer

  5. CMR, Reproductive Medicine Centre, Turin, Italy

    Roberto Sodano, Francesca Messuti, Sabina Morero & Maurizio Sodano

Authors
  1. Alessandro Conforti
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  2. Sandro C. Esteves
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  3. Antonio Pellicer
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  4. Roberto Sodano
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  5. Francesca Messuti
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  6. Luigi Carbone
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  7. Sabina Morero
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  8. Carlo Alviggi
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  9. Maurizio Sodano
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Contributions

AC, SCE, CA, and MS wrote the first draft of the manuscript. RS, FM, SM, and LC collected data and revised the manuscript. CA, SCE, and AP supervised the elaboration of the manuscript. All authors contributed to critical discussion and to final version of the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alessandro Conforti.

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Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

The present study was conducted according to the Helsinki Declaration principles. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. The Institutional Review Board of the clinic approved the study.

Conflict of Interest

AC, SCE, and CA report personal fees and grants from Merck outside the submitted work. AP, RS, FM, LC, SM, and MS have nothing to disclose.

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Conforti, A., Esteves, S.C., Pellicer, A. et al. Effect of Dexamethasone Co-Treatment During Ovarian Stimulation in Women of Different Reproductive Age With Elevated Early Follicular Phase Progesterone Level: a Prospective Longitudinal Study. Reprod. Sci. 28, 3258–3264 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-021-00590-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-021-00590-7

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