Potential benefit of dehydroepiandrosterone supplementation for infertile but not poor responder patients in a IVF program.

AIM: The aim of this paper was to evaluate the hypothesis that pretreatment with dehydroepiandrosterone (DEHA) may improve the result on in vitro fertilization (IVF) and the pregnancy outcome among infertile women with normal ovarian reserve.

METHODS: Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study; 52 infertile patients received the long protocol IVF. Patients in Group 1, received 75 mg of DHEA once a day, 8 weeks before starting the IVF cycle and during treatment; control group (Group 2) received placebo. The primary endpoint was pregnancy, live birth and miscarriage rates, secondary endpoint was standard IVF parameters such us stimulation duration (hCG day), E2 on HCG-day, endometrial thickness, number of retrieved oocytes, metaphase II oocytes, embryos transferred and score of leading embryos transferred.

RESULTS: Patients in the DHEA group had a significantly higher live birth rate compared with controls (P<0.05). Miscarriage rate was higher in control group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION: DHEA supplementation could have a beneficial effect on IVF outcome in infertile women with normal ovarian reserve.