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In women with thyroid autoimmunity, does low‐dose prednisolone administration, compared with no adjuvant therapy, improve in vitro fertilization clinical results?
Author(s) -
Litwicka Katarzyna,
Arrivi Cristiana,
Varricchio Maria Teresa,
Mencacci Cecilia,
Greco Ermanno
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of obstetrics and gynaecology research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.597
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1447-0756
pISSN - 1341-8076
DOI - 10.1111/jog.12615
Subject(s) - medicine , prednisolone , euthyroid , levothyroxine , in vitro fertilisation , pregnancy , live birth , thyroid , miscarriage , gastroenterology , endocrinology , biology , genetics
Aim The objective of the study was to verify if prednisolone treatment may influence the in vitro fertilization ( IVF ) outcome in euthyroid women affected by thyroid autoimmunity. Methods One hundred and ninety‐four patients including 60 positive for antithyroid antibodies ( ATA ) underwent the ovarian stimulation in the standard long protocol for IVF and 30 women received the low‐dose prednisolone from the day of oocyte retrieval. Results The overall, clinical pregnancy and live birth rate in ATA ‐positive patients receiving prednisolone supplementation was significantly higher when confronted with ATA ‐positive untreated subjects (60.0% vs 30.0%, P = 0.02; 46.6% vs 16.6%, P = 0.03; and 46.6% vs 20.0%, P = 0.05, respectively). The same parameters in ATA ‐positive untreated women were significantly lower than in the controls (30.0% vs 50.7%, P = 0.0001; 16.6% vs 38.1%, P = 0.04; and 20.0% vs 40.3%, P = 0.04, respectively). Conclusion There is a strong association between the presence of thyroid autoantibodies and poor IVF outcome. The prednisolone co‐treatment may improve the clinical pregnancy rate and reduce the miscarriage rate after IVF in women affected by thyroid autoimmunity.