Objective: The objective of this study is to compare the combination of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) (D + C) with DHEA alone (D) in intrauterine insemination (IUI) and in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles among patients with decreased ovarian reserve.
Methods: We retrospectively extracted data from patients charts treated by DHEA with/without CoQ10 during IUI or IVF between February 2006 and June 2014. Prestimulation parameters included age, BMI, day 3 FSH and antral follicular count (AFC). Ovarian response parameters included total gonadotropins dosage, peak serum estradiol, number of follicles > 16 mm and fertilization rate. Clinical outcomes included clinical and ongoing pregnancy rates.
Results: Three hundred and thirty IUI cycles involved D + C compared with 467 cycles of D; 78 IVF cycles involved D + C and 175 D. In both IUI and IVF, AFC was higher with D + C compared with D (7.4 ± 5.7 versus 5.9 ± 4.7, 8.2 ± 6.3 versus 5.2 ± 5, respectively, p < 0.05). D + C resulted in a more follicles > 16 mm during IUI cycles (3.3 ± 2.3 versus 2.9 ± 2.2, respectively, p = 0.01), while lower mean total gonadotropin dosage was administered after D + C supplementation compared with D (3414 ± 1141 IUs versus 3877 ± 1143 IUs respectively, p = 0.032) in IVF cycles. Pregnancy and delivery rates were similar for both IUI and IVF.
Conclusion: D + C significantly increases AFC and improves ovarian responsiveness during IUI and IVF without a difference in clinical outcome.
Keywords: Antral follicle count; CoQ10; DHEA; IVF; controlled ovarian hyper stimulation.