Original Articles

The Impact of Letrozole Versus Clomiphene Citrate on Uterine Blood Flow in Patients with Unexplained Infertility

Abstract

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of letrozole and clomiphene citrate (CC) on uterine blood flow rate in patients with unexplained infertility.
Materials and methods:In this randomized clinical trial 90 women with unexplained infertility referred to a university clinic from January 2011- December 2013 were enrolled. Thirty patients were randomized for letrozole, 30 patients for CC and 3o patients for control group. On the day 3 of cycle the patients were given letrozole 2.5mg/day or CC 100 mg /day orally or did not receive any treatment. Resistance index (RI) and pulsatility index (PI) of uterine artery were calculated and chemical pregnancy rate was evaluated.
Results:Mean age was 26.4±3.2 (20-33) and mean BMI was 26.3± 3.2. After treatment using ultrasonography the Resistance index (RI) and Pulsatility index (PI) showed no significant difference among three groups (P > 0.05). Pregnancy rate in letrozole group (58%) was more in comparison to CC (53.6%) and control groups (46%) but the difference was not significant (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: Our study showed that letrozole and clomiphene citrate have comparable impact on uterine blood flow and pregnancy rate in women with unexplained infertility.

The Practice Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Effectiveness and treatment for unexplained infertility. FertilSteril 2006;86:111–4.

Stephen EH, Chandra A. Updated projections of infertility in the United States: 1995–2025. FertilSteril 1998;70:30–4.

The Practice Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Optimal evaluation of the infertile female. FertilSteril 2006;86:264–7.

Noyes N, Liu HC, Sultan K, Schattman G, Rosenwaks Z. Endometrial thickness appears to be a significant factor in embryoimplantation in in-vitro fertilization. Hum Reprod1995;10: 919-22.

Tekay A, Martikainen H, Jouppila P. Blood flow changes in uterine and ovarian vasculature, and predictive value of transvaginal pulsed colour Doppler ultrasonography in an in-vitro fertilization programme. HumReprod1995; 10:688-93.

Coulam CB, StemJJ, Soenksen DM, Britten S, Bustillo M. Comparison of pulsatility indices on the day of oocyte retrieval and embryo transfer. Hum Reprod1995;10:82-4.

Badawy A, State O, Abdelgawad S. N-Acetyl cysteine and clomiphene citrate for induction of ovulation in polycystic ovary syndrome: a cross-over trial. ActaObstet et Gynecol 2007;86:218–22.

Badawy A, El Nashar A, El Totongy M. Clomiphene citrate plus N-acetyl cysteine versus clomiphene citrate for augmenting ovulation in the management of unexplained infertility: a randomized double-blind controlled trial. FertilSteril 2006;86:647–70.

Dickey RP, Holtkamp DE. Development, pharmacology and clinical experience with clomiphene citrate. Hum Reprod Update 1996;2:483–506.

Dickey RP, Taylor SN, Curole DN, Rye PH, Pyrzak R. Incidence of spontaneous abortion in clomiphene pregnancies. Hum Reprod 1996; 11:2623–8.

Acharya U, Irvine DS, Hamilton MP, Templeton AA. The effects of three anti-oestrogen drugs on cervical mucus quality and in-vitro sperm–cervical mucus interaction in ovulatory women. Hum Reprod 1993;8:437–41.

Homburg R. Clomiphene citrate—end of an era? A mini-review. Hum Reprod 2005;8:2043–51.

Lamb HM, Adkins JC. Letrozole: a review of its use in postmenopausal women with advanced breast cancer. Drugs 1998;56:1125–40.

Dowsett M, Jones A, Johnston SR, Jacobs S, Trunet P, Smith IE. In vivo measurement of aromatase inhibition by letrozole (CGS 20267) in postmenopausal women with breast cancer. Clin Cancer Res 1995;1: 1511–5.

Sinha S, Kaseta J, Santner SJ, Demers LM, Bremmer WJ, Santen RJ. Effect of CGS 20267 on ovarian aromatase and gonadotropin levels in the rat. Breast Cancer Res Treat 1998;48:45–51.

World Health Organization. WHO laboratory manual for the examination of human semen and sperm cervical mucus interaction. 4th ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Kupesic S, Kurjak A. Uterine and ovarian perfusion during the preovulatory period assessed bytransvaginal color Doppler. FertilSteril 1993; 60: 439-43.

ChienLW,LeeWS,AuHK,TzengCR.Assessment of changes in utero- ovarian arterial impedance during the peri implantation priod by Doppler sonography in women undergoing assisted reproduction. Ultra sound obstetgynecole 2004; 23:496-500.

Homburg R. Clomiphene citrate - end of an era? A mini review. Hum Reprod 2005;20:2043-51.

Holzer H, Casper R, Tulandi T. A new era in ovulation induction. FertilSteril 2006;85:277-84.

Young SL, Opashi MS, Fritz MA. Serum concentration of euclomiphene andzuclomiphene across consecutive cycles of clomiphene citrate therapy in anovulatory infertile women. FertilSteril 1999, 71:639-44.

Bayar U, Basavan M, Coskun A, Gezer S.Use of an aromatase inhibitors in Patient with polycystic ovary syndrome: a prospective randomized trial. FertilSteril 2006;86:1447-51.

Badawy A, Abdul Aal I, Abulatta M. Clomiphene citrate or Letrozole in women polycystic ovarian syndrome: a prospective randomized trial. FertilSteril 2009; 92:849-52.

Jee BC, Ku SY, Suh CS, Kim KC, Lee WD, Kim SH.Use of letrozole versus clomiphene citrate combined with gonadotropins in intrauterine insemination cycles: a pilot study.FertilSteril 2006;85:1774–7.

Atay V, Cam C, Muhcu M, Cam M, Karateke A. Comparision of Letrozole and Clomiphene citrate in women with polycystic ovaries undergoing ovarian stimulation. J Int Med Res 2006;34:73-6.

Jirge PR, Patil RS. Comparison of endocrine and ultrasound profilesduring ovulation induction with clomiphene citrate andletrozole in ovulatory volunteer women. Fertil Steril2010;93:174–83.

Requena A, Herrero J, Landeras J, Navarro E, Neyro JL, Salvador C, et al. Use of letrozole in assistedreproduction: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Hum Reprod Update 2008; 14: 571-82.

Badawy A, Abdel Aal I, Abulatta M. Clomiphene citrate or letrozole for ovulation induction in women withpolycystic ovarian syndrome: a prospective randomized trial. FertilSterilFertilSteril 2009; 92: 860-3.

Mitwally M, Casper RF. Aromatase inhibition reduces gonadotrpin does required for controlled ovarian stimulationin women with unexplained infertility. Hum Reprod 2003; 8: 1588-97.

Files
IssueVol 8, No 1 (March 2014) QRcode
SectionOriginal Articles
Keywords
Clomiphene Citrate Letrozole Ovulation Induction Unexplained Infertility Uterine Blood Flow

Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
1.
Sakhavar N, Kaveh M, Sadegi K. The Impact of Letrozole Versus Clomiphene Citrate on Uterine Blood Flow in Patients with Unexplained Infertility. J Family Reprod Health. 2014;8(1):1-5.