Androgen supplementation in IVF

The desired objective of controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) is to allow the growth of a cohort of follicles and to facilitate the recovery of a large number of fertilizable oocytes. However, poor responders with diminished ovarian reserve often fail to respond adequately despite the maximal dose of gonadotropins administered, with the results that the number as well as quality of oocytes harvested may be very low, thereby decreasing the pregnancy rate in IVF cycles. Therefore, successful COS for poor responders remains to be a major challenge in IVF program. One of promising strategies for augmenting follicular recruitment in poor responders is androgen supplementation. However, there are limited data on androgen treatment for poor responders undergoing IVF. Therefore, well-designed larger studies with standardized methods are required.