title: In women with thyroid autoimmunity, does low-dose prednisolone administration, compared with no adjuvant therapy, improve in vitro fertilization clinical results?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of the study was to verify if prednisolone treatment may influence the in vitro fertilization (IVF) outcome in euthyroid women affected by thyroid autoimmunity.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and ninety-four patients including 60 positive for antithyroid antibodies (ATA) underwent the ovarian stimulation in the standard long protocol for IVF and 30 women received the low-dose prednisolone from the day of oocyte retrieval.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall, clinical pregnancy and live birth rate in ATA-positive patients receiving prednisolone supplementation was significantly higher when confronted with ATA-positive untreated subjects (60.0% vs 30.0%, P = 0.02; 46.6% vs 16.6%, P = 0.03; and 46.6% vs 20.0%, P = 0.05, respectively). The same parameters in ATA-positive untreated women were significantly lower than in the controls (30.0% vs 50.7%, P = 0.0001; 16.6% vs 38.1%, P = 0.04; and 20.0% vs 40.3%, P = 0.04, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a strong association between the presence of thyroid autoantibodies and poor IVF outcome. The prednisolone co-treatment may improve the clinical pregnancy rate and reduce the miscarriage rate after IVF in women affected by thyroid autoimmunity.
authors.affiliation: Assisted Reproduction Center, European Hospital, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Litwicka
authors.forename: Cristiana
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Arrivi
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Varricchio
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mencacci
authors.forename: Ermanno
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Greco
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D015551:Autoimmunity; D004624:Embryo Transfer; D005260:Female; D005307:Fertilization in Vitro / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011247:Pregnancy; D018873:Pregnancy Rate; D013959:Thyroid Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D011239:Prednisolone
keywords: glucocorticoids; in vitro fertilization; miscarriage; pregnancy; thyroid antibodies