Effect of Chinese Herbs Combined DHEA Pretreatment on Pregnancy Outcomes of Elderly Pa- tients with Normal Ovarian Reserve Undergoing IVF-ET

Objective To observe the effect of Chinese herbs combined dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) pretreatment on pregnancy outcomes of elderly patients with normal ovarian function undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer ( IVF-ET). Methods Totally 233 IVF patients with normal ovarian function scheduled for IVF-ET, 36 -42 years old, were assigned to the combined group, the DHEA group, the control group according to random number table. Patients in the combined group (76 cases) were pretreated with Chinese herbs plus DHEA before IVF cycle for 8 weeks. Patients in the DHEA group (82 cases) were pretreated with DHEA before IVF cycle for 8 weeks. Those in the control group (75 cases) received no pretreatment. The number of retrieved oocytes , the fertilization rate, the rate of good quality embryos, the number of frozen embryos, clinical pregnancy rate, early spontaneous abortion rate, live birth rate, levels of anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) , the cycle cancellation rate, endometrial thickness and estradiol (E₂) level on human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) injection day, the dosage and duration of Gn were observed in the 3 groups. Results The good quality embryo rate was significantly higher in the combined group and the DHEA group than in the control group (P <0. 05). Compared with the control group, the fertilization rate, the number of frozen embryos, the clinical pregnancy rate, and the live birth rate were higher; the early spontaneous abortion rate was lower in the two pretreatment groups (P > 0. 05). AMH increased more significantly in the two pretreatment groups after treatment (P <0. 05). There was no obvious change in the control group. The post-treatment number of retrieved oocytes, the cycle cancellation rate, E₂ level and endometrial thickness on hCG injection day, the dosage and duration of Gn had no significant difference among the 3 groups (P >0. 05). Conclusion Pretreatment of Chinese herbs combined DHEA could improve the good quality embryo rate of elderly patients with normal ovarian re- serve, which might be associated with AMH.