The effects of Chinese herbal medicine on the pregnancy outcomes of infertile women with polycystic ovary syndrome undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The effects of Chinese herbal medicine on the pregnancy outcomes of infertile women with polycystic ovary syndrome undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Chang Liu¹, Minchen Dai², Lei Zhao^1,*, Fangfang Wang^3,*

Show Less

¹ The Second Department of Clinical Medicine, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, 310053 Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

² Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Women’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 310006 Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 310006 Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

^*Correspondence: drwangfangfang@zju.edu.cn (Fangfang Wang); zhaolei2351@126.com (Lei Zhao)

Clin. Exp. Obstet. Gynecol. 2021, 48(5), 1032–1043; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.ceog4805166

Submitted: 22 June 2021 | Revised: 12 August 2021 | Accepted: 26 August 2021 | Published: 15 October 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Complementary and Integrative Therapies for Women’s Health)

This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Abstract

Background: At present, Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has already been widely used as an important adjuvant treatment for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET). This systematic review and meta-analysis were designed to evaluate the effects of CHM on the pregnancy outcomes of infertile women with PCOS undergoing IVF-ET. Methods: We searched seven electronic databases systematically for published articles to January 2021. All randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing CHM with blank or placebo for infertile PCOS patients undergoing IVF-ET were included. The measures of treatment effect were the pooled odds ratios (OR) of the clinical pregnancy rate, the abortion rate and the ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) incidence. Results: This meta-analysis included 10 studies involving 663 patients comparing CHM with blank or placebo for infertile PCOS patients undergoing IVF-ET. The pooled data showed that CHM could improve the clinical pregnancy rate (OR = 2.41, 95% CI: 1.73–3.35, p $<$ 0.01) and reduce the OHSS incidence (OR = 0.31, 95% CI: 0.18–0.55, p $<$ 0.01) of infertile PCOS patients with IVF-ET treatment. No significant difference in the abortion rate was found between the CHM and control groups (OR = 0.64, 95% CI: 0.23–1.81, p = 0.40). Discussion: CHM can be used as an auxiliary treatment for infertile PCOS patients undergoing IVF-ET.