Endocrine profile following stimulation with recombinant follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone versus highly purified human menopausal gonadotropin

BACKGROUND Luteinizing hormone (LH) activity in human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG) preparations is derived from human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) rather than LH. Therefore, we aimed to determine whether there are similarities in the endocrine and follicular profiles of serum and follicular fluid from controlled ovarian stimulation with the recombinant gonadotropins follicle-stimulating hormone plus luteinizing hormone (rFSH + rLH) or highly purified human menopausal gonadotropin (HP-hMG). METHODS We performed a prospective observational study with 50 oocyte donors that received either a combination of recombinant gonadotropins (rFSH + rLH) or a mixture of urinary gonadotropins (HP-hMG) plus purified urinary FSH (uFSH). Results were analyzed using Student's t-test to compare continuous variables and the chi-squared test to compare proportions. P-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS Although more oocytes were retrieved after treatment with recombinant than urinary gonadotropins (16.5 vs. 11.8; P = 0.049), a higher proportion of metaphase II ova (71.2% vs. 80.6%; P = 0.003) were obtained using urinary gonadotropins. On day 6 and on the day of triggering, serum steroid hormone levels were slightly but not significantly elevated in the recombinant group compared with the urinary group. In follicular fluid, no statistical differences were observed for intra-follicular levels of steroid hormones between the two protocols; ongoing pregnancy rates were similar (46.1% vs. 46.1%). CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest that endocrinological and follicular profiles do not differ between rFSH + rLH and HP-hMG stimulation.