Drug intervention in early pregnancy after assisted reproductive technology

Abstract

Implantation in humans is a complex, closely regulated, highly selective and relatively poorly understood process. Humans have the highest rate of miscarriage in mammals and various pharmacological manipulations have been used to minimize pregnancy losses in both spontaneous pregnancies and pregnancies resulting from assisted reproduction technology. The widespread application of protocols using numerous drugs in assisted reproduction treatment has led to an increasing number of pregnancies exposed to these drugs. The vast majority of these protocols have been based on data from a few observational and often retrospective clinical studies. This paper reviews the recent literature on drug interventions in early pregnancy after assisted reproduction treatment. It is concluded that there are still numerous issues about the safety of most drugs for both the women and their fetus. In many cases, the benefits are theoretical and the possible long-term side-effects are untested. There is an urgent need for more epidemiological studies and randomized controlled trials to explore the use, efficacy and side-effects of both old and new drugs in early pregnancy after assisted reproduction treatment.