A randomized controlled trial evaluating metformin pre-treatment and co-administration in non-obese insulin-resistant women with polycystic ovary syndrome treated with controlled ovarian stimulation plus timed intercourse or intrauterine insemination

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) in the context of insulin resistance, prediabetes & type 2 diabetes, published as a randomized controlled trial.

The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of the pre-treatment and co-administration of metformin in infertile PCOS women treated with controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) followed by timed intercourse (TI) or intrauterine insemination (IUI).

Why It Was Studied

There are few data in the literature regarding the utility of metfomin before and during gonadotrophin administration in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are adults, women only.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized and placebo-controlled study.

The participants were allocated by chance, so the hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) group and the comparison group should start out alike.

A placebo (an inactive look-alike) gave the hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) group a baseline to be compared against.

Three trials of COS using highly purified urinary FSH (hpFSH) plus TI/IUI were performed.

Number of ampoules of gonadotrophin used, duration of the ovarian stimulation, cycle cancellation, ovulation, pregnancy, abortion, live birth, mono-ovulatory cycles, multiple pregnancies and ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) rates were assessed.

What Was Measured

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Area Under Curve, Chorionic Gonadotropin, Follicle Stimulating Hormone, Gonadotropins, Hypoglycemic Agents, Infertility, Female and Insemination, Artificial.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and placebo-controlled study of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) in people with insulin resistance, prediabetes & type 2 diabetes.

Results are reported in around 3 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2005 (Human reproduction (Oxford, England)), a journal based in England.

More context: the hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) compound page, Insulin resistance, prediabetes & type 2 diabetes research.