Chen LJ, Liu Y, Zhang L, Li JY, Xiong WQ, Li T, Ding H, Li BJ. Sequential 2.5 mg letrozole/FSH therapy is more effective for promoting pregnancy in infertile women with PCOS: a pragmatic randomized controlled trial.
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne) 2024;
14:1294339. [PMID:
38283747 PMCID:
PMC10811237 DOI:
10.3389/fendo.2023.1294339]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2023] [Accepted: 12/26/2023] [Indexed: 01/30/2024] Open
Abstract
Study question
In infertile women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), is the sequential use of letrozole 2.5 mg/follicle stimulating hormone(FSH) more effective than letrozole 5 mg/FSH in stimulating ovulation and promoting pregnancy?
Research design and methods
The study was designed as a prospective, single-center, randomized, controlled pragmatic clinical trial. 220 infertile women between the ages of 20 and 40, who matched the Rotterdam criteria for PCOS and had no other identified reasons for infertility were enrolled from April 2023 to July 2023.The participants were randomly assigned to two groups in a 1:1 ratio. One group received 2.5 mg of letrozole on cycle days 3-7 with a sequential injection of 75 IU FSH on cycle days 8-10 (n = 110), while the other group received 5 mg of letrozole on cycle days 3-7 with a sequential injection of 75 IU FSH on cycle days 8-10 (n = 110). The duration of FSH treatment varied depending on the follicular development stage. Each participant underwent one to three treatment cycles until achieving pregnancy.The primary outcome was the cumulative pregnancy rate of all the participants. Secondary outcomes included characteristics and clinical pregnancy rates of all the intervention cycles.
Results
For all 220 participants, the sequential letrozole 2.5 mg/FSH treatment group had a significantly higher cumulative pregnancy rate compared to the letrozole 5 mg/FSH treatment group (72.7% versus 59.1%, RR (95%CI) = 1.23 (1.02, 1.49), P-value = 0.033). For all 468 intervention cycles, letrozole 2.5 mg/FSH group had a significantly higher clinical pregnancy rate than the letrozole 5 mg/FSH group (36.2% versus 26.3%, P-value = 0.021), no statistically significant differences were observed in ovulation rates or adverse effects.
Conclusions
The data indicate that the sequential letrozole 2.5mg/FSH protocol may be more effective than the sequential letrozole 5mg/FSH protocol for promoting pregnancy in infertile women with PCOS.
Clinical trial registration
www.chictr.org.cn, identifier ChiCTR2300069638.
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