PRP for a pos­sible ex­ten­sion of fe­male fer­ti­lity?

Bes­ides well-known me­thods, such as clas­sical IVF, ICSI or in­se­mi­na­tion, there is also a less re­se­ar­ched me­thod: ova­rian re­ju­ve­na­tion with PRP. This ova­rian re­ju­ve­na­tion re­fers to a pro­ce­dure that at­tempts to achieve “ova­rian re­ju­ve­na­tion” with the help of pl­atelet-rich plasma in order to in­crease the chances of suc­cessful fer­ti­liza­tion if ne­ces­sary. The me­thod can help women suf­fe­ring from pre­ma­ture ova­rian failure or to try to im­prove their func­tion [2].

Ova­rian re­ju­ve­na­tion is per­formed with the help of PRP (pl­atelet rich plasma) in­jec­tions. The me­thod with in­jec­tions of the pa­ti­ent’s own pl­atelet-rich plasma is used not only for re­pro­duc­tive pur­poses, but has also been used in other areas of me­di­cine for quite some time. Be it for in­ju­ries (wound he­aling), sur­ge­ries, cos­metic pro­ce­dures or ova­rian re­ju­ve­na­tion: PRP is said to sti­mu­late the growth of cells as well as stem cells in the par­ti­cular tissue into which the PRP is ad­mi­nis­tered. Fe­male ova­ries are said to be able to pro­duce eggs again with the help of PRP.
Fur­ther re­se­arch is needed to de­fine the exact mode of ac­tion of PRP [1].

For whom can ova­rian PRP re­ju­ve­na­tion be sui­table?

• Women over 35 years of age with low fer­ti­lity, oo­cyte re­serve and low AMH level (De­ter­mine your AMH level from the com­fort of your own home)
• Women under 35 years of age with low AMH le­vels and low oo­cyte re­serve
• Me­no­pausal or pe­ri­me­no­pausal women under 50 years of age
• Women with pre­ma­ture ova­rian failure (POF) [3].

PRP tre­at­ment for ova­rian re­ju­ve­na­tion: When & How:

The start of PRP tre­at­ment for ova­rian re­ju­ve­na­tion can take place in women with pe­riods (re­gular or ir­re­gular) bet­ween the be­gin­ning of the pe­riod to the 10th day (ma­tu­ra­tion of the fol­licles). For women wi­t­hout pe­riods it is pos­sible at any time.

Usually, the pro­cess be­gins with preli­mi­nary dis­cus­sions and a con­sul­ta­tion ap­point­ment with an ap­pro­priate spe­cia­list. This is fol­lowed by preli­mi­nary ex­ami­na­tions (so-called ana­mnesis, ul­tra­sound, blood tests). For the pre­pa­ra­tion of the PRP, a blood sample is taken and the pl­atelet-rich plasma (PRP) is then ob­tained in the la­bo­ra­tory by cen­tri­fu­ga­tion. The in­jec­tion of pl­atelet-rich plasma is per­formed under an­es­thesia and is in­jected into the ova­ries.

How do you know if it has worked?

To mo­nitor and me­a­sure ch­anges in hor­mone le­vels, re­gular ex­ami­na­tions take place after the pro­ce­dure. Po­si­tive re­sults may be ex­pected if the AMH level is in­cre­asing while the FSH, LH, es­t­ra­diol le­vels are de­cre­asing in re­turn. This may in­di­cate that the oo­cytes are de­ve­lo­ping.

It is im­portant to note that even with sup­po­sedly “po­si­tive” me­a­su­re­ments, one should not as­sume a gua­ran­teed pregnancy. Other fac­tors can in­fluence na­tural con­cep­tion and make pregnancy more dif­fi­cult.

Re­gar­ding PRP ap­pli­ca­tion in re­pro­duc­tive me­di­cine, neither long-term nor short-term ne­ga­tive ef­fects could be ob­served in stu­dies, since the pa­ti­ent’s own blood is used and the PRP growth fac­tors should not pose any risk [2]. In a short pe­riod of time im­me­dia­tely after the pro­ce­dure, mild pain may occur in very rare cases, but are usually be short-lived [3].

In a 2019 study, women with pre­ma­ture ova­rian failure achieved a na­tural pregnancy after ova­rian PRP tre­at­ment after pre­vious

failed [4]. The pa­ti­ents were women who had not had a pe­riod for more than a year at the time of the study, had ex­pe­ri­enced failed IVF tre­at­ments, and wanted to test the pl­atelet-rich plasma tech­nique on their ova­ries.

While me­dical re­se­arch on ova­rian re­ju­ve­na­tion with PRP is al­ready un­derway, there are not yet many sci­en­ti­fi­cally meaningful sta­tis­tics on the me­thod’s exact chances of suc­cess. Ho­wever, suc­cesses fol­lo­wing tre­at­ment with PRP have al­ready been ob­served and tra­cked. One should keep in mind that tre­at­ments with PRP are still re­la­tively new in re­pro­duc­tive me­di­cine. The­r­e­fore, it is im­portant to note that fur­ther re­se­arch stu­dies and in­ves­ti­ga­tions are ne­ces­sary and pur­po­seful for me­dical state­ments on suc­cess pro­gnoses as well as on the de­tailed mode of ac­tion of the me­thod of ova­rian re­ju­ve­na­tion.

At Fer­tilly, we have made it our mis­sion to ac­com­pany cou­ples (ho­mo­se­xual and he­te­ro­se­xual) and sin­gles on the way to ful­fil­ling their child wish. In doing so, it is im­portant to us to create trans­pa­rency in the area of fer­ti­lity ser­vices, to pro­vide in­for­ma­tion and know­ledge on the to­pics of pregnancy and fer­ti­lity and to help you to find the most sui­table Fer­ti­lity Center. Th­rough co­ope­ra­tion with first-class Fer­ti­lity Cen­tres and cli­nics in Eu­rope, en­qui­ries about Fer­tilly are given pre­fe­ren­tial tre­at­ment. This means that our pa­ti­ents avoid the usually long wai­ting times and get ap­point­ments more quickly.

If you would like more in­for­ma­tion about Fer­ti­lity Cen­ters, suc­cess rates and prices, please contact us using this ques­ti­on­n­aire. We will ad­vise you free of charge and wi­t­hout any ob­li­ga­tion.

Sources:

1. https://www.wireltern.ch/artikel/news-0716-wie-alte-eierstoecke-fit-werden
2. 8. Schmitz, JP, Hol­linger, JO. The bio­logy of pl­atelet-rich plasma. J Oral Ma­xillofac Surg. 2001;59(9):1119–1121.
3. https://www.infertilityny.com/ovarian-rejuvenation-nyc/
4. Pantos, Sim­opoulou et al. A Case Se­ries on Na­tural Con­cep­tions Re­sul­ting in On­going Pregnan­cies in Me­no­pausal and Pre­ma­tu­rely Me­no­pausal Women Fol­lo­wing Pl­atelet-Rich Plasma Tre­at­ment, 2019