Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2021 May;38(5):1003-1012.
doi: 10.1007/s10815-021-02146-9. Epub 2021 Mar 15.

A narrative review of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in reproductive medicine

Fady I Sharara  1   2 , Latashia-Lika Lelea  3 , Sara Rahman  4 , Jordan S Klebanoff  5 , Gaby N Moawad  6   7
Affiliations
Review

A narrative review of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in reproductive medicine

Fady I Sharara et al. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2021 May.

Abstract

Purpose: Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has become a novel treatment in various aspects of medicine including orthopedics, cardiothoracic surgery, plastic surgery, dermatology, dentistry, and diabetic wound healing. PRP is now starting to become an area of interest in reproductive medicine more specifically focusing on infertility. Poor ovarian reserve, menopause, premature ovarian failure, and thin endometrium have been the main areas of research. The aim of this article is to review the existing literature on the effects of autologous PRP in reproductive medicine providing a summation of the current studies and assessing the need for additional research.

Methods: A literature search is performed using PubMed, MEDLINE, and CINAHL Plus to identify studies focusing on the use of PRP therapy in reproductive medicine. Articles were divided into 3 categories: PRP in thin lining, PRP in poor ovarian reserve, and PRP in recurrent implantation failure.

Results: In women with thin endometrium, the literature shows an increase in endometrial thickness and increase in chemical and clinical pregnancy rates following autologous PRP therapy. In women with poor ovarian reserve, autologous intraovarian PRP therapy increased anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) levels and decreased follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), with a trend toward increasing clinical and live birth rates. This trend was also noted in women with recurrent implantation failure.

Conclusions: Limited literature shows promise in increasing endometrial thickness, increasing AMH, and decreasing FSH levels, as well as increasing chemical and clinical pregnancy rates. The lack of standardization of PRP preparation along with the lack of large randomized controlled trials needs to be addressed in future studies. Until definitive large RCTs are available, PRP use should be considered experimental.

Keywords: Assisted reproduction; Gynecology; Infertility; Platelet-rich plasma; Reproductive endocrinology.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Aghajanova L, Houshdaran S, Balayan S, Manvelyan E, Irwin J, Huddleston H, Giudice L. In vitro evidence that platelet-rich plasma stimulates cellular processes involved in endometrial regeneration. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2018;35:757–770. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kim H, Shin J, Koo H, Kwon H, Choi D, Kim J. Effect of autologous platelet-rich plasma treatment on refractory thin endometrium during the frozen embryo transfer cycle: a pilot study. Front Endocrinol. 2019;10:1–9. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mouhayar Y, Sharara FI. G-CSF and stem cell therapy for the treatment of refractory thin lining in assisted reproductive technology. J Assist Reprod Genet. 2017;34:831–837. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Du J, Lu H, Yu X, Lu Z, Mi L, Zhang X. Efficacy and safety of platelet-rich plasma for the treatment of thin endometrium: a protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine. 2020;99:1–4. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Coksuer H, Akdemir Y, Barut M. Improved in vitro fertilization success and pregnancy outcome with autologous platelet-rich plasma treatment in unexplained infertility patients that had repeated implantation failure history. Gynecol Endocrinol. 2019:1–6. - PubMed

Substances