Human Reproduction, Vol. 16, No. 4, 663-667,
April 2001
© 2001 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology
Reproductive endocrinology |
Comparison of LH concentrations in the early and mid-luteal phase in IVF cycles after treatment with HMG alone or in association with the GnRH antagonist Cetrorelix
1 Centre for Reproductive Medicine, Dutch-Speaking Free University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
Abstract
Luteinizing hormone (LH) is mandatory for the maintenance of the corpus luteum. Ovarian stimulation for IVF has been associated with a defective luteal phase. The luteal phases of two groups of patients with normal menstrual cycles and no endocrinological cause of infertility were retrospectively analysed in IVF cycles. Thirty-one infertile patients stimulated with human menopausal gonadotrophins (HMG) for IVF to whom the gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist Cetrorelix 0.25 mg was also administered to prevent the LH surge (group I) were compared with 31 infertile patients stimulated with HMG alone (group II). Despite differences in the stimulation outcome, luteal LH serum concentrations were similar in the two groups. LH values dropped from 2.3 ± 1 IU/l on the day of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) administration to 1.1 ± 0.7 IU/l on day HCG +2 in group I (P < 0.0001) and from 5.1 ± 3 to 1.2 ± 1.7 IU/l (P < 0.0001) in group II. In the mid-luteal phase, LH concentrations were low in both groups. Our results suggest that suppressed LH concentrations in the early and mid-luteal phase may not be attributed solely to the GnRH-antagonist administration. Pituitary LH secretion may be inhibited by supraphysiological steroid serum concentrations via long-loop feedback and/or by the central action of the exogenously administered HCG via a short-loop mechanism.
Key words: GnRH antagonist/IVF/LH/luteal phase/ovarian stimulation
Notes
2 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: AZ-VUB, Centre for Reproductive Medicine, Laarbeeklaan 101, 1090 Brussels, Belgium. E-mail: paul.devroey{at}az.vub.ac.be or mtavaniotou{at}hotmail.com
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