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Effect of basal serum testosterone level on the ovarian response and the cumulative live birth rate in infertile women undergoing in vitro fertilization

  • Assisted Reproduction Technologies
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Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the effect of basal serum testosterone levels on the ovarian response and the cumulative live birth rate of infertile women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Methods

It is a retrospective study in a university-affiliated assisted reproduction center in Hong Kong. Infertile women undergoing the first IVF cycle in the center between December 2012 and November 2016 with archived serum samples and available information on cumulative live birth were included for the analysis.

Results

A total of 1122 women were included for analysis. The median basal serum testosterone level was 0.53 (25–75th percentile: 0.40–0.67) nmol/L. Women with higher basal serum testosterone levels required a lower total dosage of gonadotrophin and a shorter duration of stimulation and had more oocytes retrieved. The cumulative live birth rates did not differ among women with serum testosterone levels in the four quartiles. Basal serum testosterone level was not a significant independent predictor of the cumulative live birth after adjusted for the women’s age and number of normally fertilized oocytes in a binary logistic regression. The areas under the receiver operative characteristics (ROC) curves in predicting low or high ovarian response and the cumulative live birth were all below 0.6.

Conclusion

Higher basal serum testosterone levels were associated with a better ovarian response but had no effect on the cumulative live birth rate of infertile women undergoing IVF.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Prof. Ronald Wang and Ms. Benancy Wong for assistance in arranging the testosterone assay.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China

    Rebecca S. F. Wan, Jennifer K. Y. Ko, Sofie S. F. Yung, Ernest H. Y. Ng & Raymond H. W. Li

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Princess Margaret Hospital, Hong Kong, China

    Rebecca S. F. Wan

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  1. Rebecca S. F. Wan
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  2. Jennifer K. Y. Ko
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  3. Sofie S. F. Yung
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  4. Ernest H. Y. Ng
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Correspondence to Raymond H. W. Li.

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Wan, R.S.F., Ko, J.K.Y., Yung, S.S.F. et al. Effect of basal serum testosterone level on the ovarian response and the cumulative live birth rate in infertile women undergoing in vitro fertilization. J Assist Reprod Genet 40, 883–890 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-023-02749-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-023-02749-4

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