Does Subcutaneous Administration of Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor Improve Pregnancy Outcome in Patients Undergoing Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection?

Expression of granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) and its receptors in embryo and endometrium implicates the involvement of this glycoprotein on implantation process. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of routine use of subcutaneous administration of G-CSF on pregnancy outcomes in intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) patients.

In this retrospective study, ICSI outcomes were compared between two groups of patients: the first group (n=108) who received subcutaneous G-CSF (300 mcg) two hours before the embryo transfer and the second group (n=110) who did not receive it. Pregnancy outcome was compared between the two groups. P-value<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

There was no significant difference between G-CSF and control groups with respect to the rate of implantation (respectively, 23%vs. 23%, p=0.49), chemical (respectively, 43.5%vs. 50%, p=0.34) and clinical (respectively, 40.7% vs. 46.4%, p=0.23) pregnancy. In logistic regression analyses, subcutaneous G-CSF administration was not associated with clinical pregnancy in both crude and adjusted odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) (crude OR: 0.8, CI: 0.47-1.36, p=0.4, and adjusted OR: 0.99, CI: 0.48-2.07, p=0.99).

In the present study, subcutaneous G-CSF did not improve pregnancy outcomes in patients undergoing ICSI; therefore, the routine use of this cytokine is not suggested for all patients.