Effects of low-dose human chorionic gonadotropin on corpus luteum function after embryo transfer

This paper reports the effect of low-dose human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) on the levels of serum hCG, progesterone, and estradiol, luteal-phase length, and conception in 20 patients undergoing in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET). Alternate patients in a group of 20 received 1000 IU hCG on the day of embryo transfer and 3 days after. Six and 9 days from embryo transfer 2000 IU hCG was given. The remaining patients served as controls. No patients in the treated group and four in the control group became pregnant. The endocrine profiles with respect to hCG, progesterone, and estradiol levels were similar in the treated patients compared with pregnant patients in the control group. Treated patients had significantly longer (18.0 +/- 1.1 days) luteal phases compared with nonpregnant patients in the control group (12.5 +/- 1.2 days), indicating that low-dose hCG prolonged the life of the corpus luteum. It was concluded that while the administration of low-dose hCG prolonged the life of the corpus luteum, it did not apparently improve the conception rate.