Follicular growth and oocyte maturation in GnRH agonist and antagonist protocols for in vitro fertilisation and embryo transfer.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone in this randomized controlled trial publication.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the response to treatment in a group of patients undergoing IVF and randomised to receive GnRH-antagonist or the GnRH-agonist.

Why It Was Studied

The endpoints were the pattern of follicular growth, the maturity of the oocytes collected, the embryo quality and the pregnancy outcome.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 136 patients taking part.

PubMed indexes the participants as adults, women only.

A total of 136 patients undergoing IVF were included.

Sixty-seven patients were allocated to the GnRH antagonist and 69 patients to the GnRH agonist.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

GnRH antagonist was administered when the leading follicle reached a diameter of 12-14 mm.

GnRH agonist was administered in a long luteal protocol.

What Was Measured

The endpoints were the pattern of follicular growth, the maturity of the oocytes collected, the embryo quality and the pregnancy outcome.

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Embryo Transfer, Embryo, Mammalian, Fertilization in Vitro, Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone, Oocytes, Ovarian Follicle and Ovulation Induction.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone in 136 patients.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 5 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2009 (Gynecological endocrinology : the official journal of the International Society of Gynecological Endocrinology), a journal based in England.

More context: all human trials.