A NEW CONCEPT OF COTREATMENT WITH HUMAN GROWTH-HORMONE AND MENOTROPINS IN OVULATION INDUCTION PROTOCOLS

Follicular development in the primordial and preantral stages is almos t completely independent of gonadotrophins or steroids and is mainly d ependent on growth factors and local regulators. Since human growth ho rmone (hGH) was found to facilitate ovarian response to gonadotrophin stimulation, we hypothesized that the administration of hGH in an hypo gonadotrophic state and prior to ovarian stimulation with menotropins, may initiate or facilitate the propagation of the primordial and prea ntral follicles to the gonadotrophin-dependent stages. We suggest that treatment with hGH prior to menotropin administration may be useful t o improve results for poor responders to gonadotrophins.