Corifollitropin-α compared to daily r-FSH in for patients undergoing intracytoplasmic sperm injection: Clinical trial study

Abstract

Background: The current treatment regimen for ovarian stimulation in Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) patients is daily injections of Gonadotropins. Recombinant DNA technologies have produced a new recombinant molecule that is a long-acting Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), named corifollitropin alfa. A single injection of long-acting FSH can replace seven daily FSH injections during the first week of controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) and can make assisted reproduction more patients-friendly. There is limited data with different results in this area.


Objective: To compare the effectiveness of long-acting FSH vs. daily r-FSH in terms of  pregnancy and safety outcomes in women undergoing ICSI cycles.


Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial study, 109 women who were the candidates  for ICSI at azzahra hospital were divided in two groups. The first group received 150 units of daily Gonal-f from second or third day of menstruation. The second group received a 150IU corifollitropin alfa on the second or third day of mensuration, and the treatment continued from day eighth of stimulation with Gonal-f based on the ultrasound finding. Both the groups received GnRH antagonist from fifth day of stimulation. Two groups were compared in terms of number of dominant follicles, number of oocytes, stimulation duration, total number of embryos, number of transferred embryos, and success rate of pregnancy.


Results: No significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of stimulation duration, number of follicles, number of oocytes, total number of embryos, and number of transferred embryos. Moreover, pregnancy outcomes including chemical pregnancy rate (positive pregnancy test), clinical pregnancy rate (detection of fetal heart), the rate of ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome, multiple-pregnancy, ectopic pregnancy, and miscarriage didn’t have a significant difference between the two groups.


Conclusion: As corifollitropin alfa was as effective as r-FSH, it could be used as an alternative to ovulation stimulation method in patients undergoing ICSI.


Key words: Corifollitropin alfa, Gonal-F, Pregnancies, r-FSH.

References
[1] Pandian Z, McTavish AR, Aucott L, Hamilton MP, Bhattacharya S. Interventions for ‘poor responders’ to
controlled ovarian hyper stimulation (COH) in in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2010; 20:
CD004379.

[2] Rajkhowa M, McConnell A, Thomas GE. Reasons for discontinuation of IVF treatment: a questionnaire study.
Hum Reprod 2006; 21: 358–363.

[3] Verberg MF, Eijkemans MJ, Heijnen EM, Broekmans FJ, de Klerk C, Fauser BC, et al. Why do couples drop-out from IVF treatment? A prospective cohort study. Hum Reprod 2008; 23: 2050–2055.

[4] Requena A, Cruz M, Collado D, Izquierdo A, Ballesteros A, Muñoz M, et al. Evaluation of the degree of satisfaction in oocyte donors using sustainedrelease FSH corifollitropin α. Reprod Biomed Online 2013; 26: 253–259.

[5] de Carvalho BR. Often times, we should look at IVF more simply. JBRA Assist Reprod 2016; 20: 1–2.

[6] Selman H, Rinaldi L. Effectiveness of corifollitropin alfa used for ovarian stimulation of poor responder patients. Int J Womens Health 2016; 8: 609–615.

[7] Pouwer AW, Farquhar C, Kremer JA. Long-acting FSH versus daily FSH for women undergoing assisted reproduction. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2015; 7: CD009577

[8] Fares FA, Suganuma N, Nishimori K, LaPolt PS, Hsueh AJ, Boime I. Design of a long-acting follitropin agonist by fusing the C-terminal sequence of the chorionic gonadotropin beta subunit to the follitropin beta subunit. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1992; 15: 4304–4308.

[9] de Greef R, Zandvliet AS, de Haan AF, Ijzerman-Boon PC, Marintcheva-Petrova M, Mannaerts BM. Dose selection of corifollitropin alfa by modeling and simulation in controlled ovarian stimulation. Clin Pharmacol Ther 2010; 88: 79–87

[10] Rinaldi L, Selman H. Corifollitropin alfa in poor responders: preliminary results. Austin J In Vitro Fertili 2014; 1: 1–3.

[11] Ledger WL, Fauser BC, Devroey P, Zandvliet AS, Mannaerts BM. Corifollitropin alfa doses based on body weight: clinical overview of drug exposure and ovarian response. Reprod Biomed Online 2011; 23: 150–159.

[12] Fauser BC, Mannaerts BM, Devroey P, Leader A, Boime I, Baird DT. Advances in recombinant DNA technology:corifollitropin alfa, a hybrid molecule with sustained follicle-stimulating activity and reduced injection frequency. Hum Reprod Update 2009; 15: 309–321.

[13] Devroey P, Fauser BC, Platteau P, Beckers NG, Dhont M, Mannaerts BM. Induction of multiple follicular development by a single dose of long-acting recombinant follicleStimulating hormone (FSH-CTP, corifollitropin alfa) for controlled ovarian stimulation before in vitro fertilization. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2004; 89: 2062–2070.

[14] Souza PMG, Carvalho BR, Nakagawa HM, Rassi TRE, Barbosa ACP, Silva AA. Corifollitropin alfa compared to
daily rFSH or HP-HMG in GnRH antagonist controlled ovarian stimulation protocol for patients undergoing assisted reproduction. JBRA Assist Reprod 2017; 21: 67–69.

[15] Kolibianakis EM, Venetis CA, Bosdou JK, Zepiridis L, Chatzimeletiou K, Makedos A, et al. Corifollitropin alfa compared with follitropin beta in poor responders undergoing ICSI: a randomized controlled trial. Hum Reprod 2015; 30: 432–440.

[16] Loutradis D, Drakakis P, Vlismas A, Antsaklis A. Corifollitropin alfa, a long-acting follicle-stimulating hormone
agonist for the treatment of infertility. Curr Opin InvestigDrugs 2009; 10: 372–380.
[17] Benchabane M, Santulli P, Maignien C, Bourdon M, De Ziegler D, Chapron C, et al. Corifollitropin alfa compared to daily FSH in controlled ovarian stimulation for oocyte donors. Gynecol Obstet Fertil Senol 2017; 45: 83–88.

[18] Fensore S, Di Marzio M, Tiboni GM. Corifollitropin alfa compared to daily FSH in controlled ovarian stimulation for in vitro fertilization: a meta-analysis. J Ovarian Res 2015; 8:33–40.

[19] Barroso-Villa JG, Colín-Valenzuela A, Valdespín-Fierro C,Ávila-Lombardo R, Estrada-Gutiérrez G. The effect of
corifollitropin alfa on in vitro fertilization-ICSI patients with previous failure with an FSH/HMG protocol: Preliminary report in Mexico. Ginecol Obstet Mex 2016; 84: 7–13.

[20] Mahmoud Youssef MA, van Wely M, Aboulfoutouh I, ElKhyat W, van der Veen F, Al-Inany H. Is there a place for corifollitropin alfa in IVF/ICSI cycles? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Fertil Steril 2012; 97: 876–885.

[21] Devroey P, Boostanfar R, Koper NP, Mannaerts BM, Ijzerman-Boon PC, Fauser BC, et al. A double-blind, noninferiority RCT comparing corifollitropin alfa and recombinant FSH during the first seven days of ovarian stimulation using a GnRH antagonist protocol. Hum Reprod 2009; 24: 3063–3072.

[22] Siristatidis C, Dafopoulos K, Christoforidis N, Anifandis G, Pergialiotis V, Papantoniou N. Corifollitropin alfa compared with follitropin beta in GnRH-antagonist ovarian stimulation protocols in an unselected population undergoing IVF/ICSI. Gynecol Endocrinol 2017; 33: 1–4.

[23] Oehninger S, Nelson SM, Verweij P, Stegmann BJ. Predictive factors for ovarian response in a corifollitropin
alfa/GnRH antagonist protocol for controlled ovarian stimulation in IVF/ICSI cycles. Reprod Biol Endocrinol 2015; 13:117–123.

[24] Lerman T, Depenbusch M, Schultze-Mosgau A, von Otte S, Scheinhardt M, Koenig I, et al. Ovarian response to 150 µg corifollitropin alfa in a GnRH-antagonist multipledose protocol: a prospective cohort study. Reprod Biomed Online 2017; 34: 534–540.