IVF-ET is one of the major techniques to treat infertility in DOR patients, but poor ovarian response and low pregnancy rate have been the bottleneck problems. China has original advantages in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) treatment. The kidney tonifying and blood circulation regulating therapy is a pre-IVF-ET intervention treatment characterized by sequential treatment according to menstrual cycle formed in the previous investigations by the research group. It can ameliorate ovarian hyporesponsiveness and improve the success rate of IVF-ET, but the compliance is poor due to the long intervention course. Identifying the time point of TCM intervention to further optimize the treatment plan is the key to improving the pregnancy rate. Therefore, DOR patients who receive IVF-ET are enrolled as the research objects in this project, who are divided into the experimental group and control group with a randomized controlled non-inferiority design, and receive sequential TCM therapy for kidney tonifying and blood circulation regulating from the fifth day of menstruation at the second menstrual cycle and the third menstrual cycle prior to IVF-ET, respectively, until the day of human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) administration. The number of oocytes retrieved, the rate of high-quality embryos, the dosage and administration days of Gn, the levels of estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P) and the clinical pregnancy rate on hCG day are compared between the two groups. Meanwhile, the compliance of patients in the two groups with different treatment regimens is compared. This project aims to verify that the efficacy of the treatment plan implemented from the second menstrual cycle prior to IVF-ET may not be inferior to that from the third menstrual cycle prior to IVF-ET on improving the pregnancy outcomes of DOR patients, while the compliance is better. The results of the study will provide a reference basis for the precise treatment of TCM prior to IVF-ET.
Patients with diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) who undergo in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) are included as the research subjects. The effects of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for kidney tonifying and blood circulation regulating of different intervention courses on ovarian hyporesponsiveness, IVF-ET outcome and clinical compliance in DOR patients are studied by a non-inferiority randomized controlled trial. The purpose is to identify the breakthrough point and treatment timing of TCM treatment, explore the best treatment course of TCM, and optimize the TCM therapeutic regimen.