Kisspeptin Hormone Could Help Women Conceive A Baby Using IVF

09.03.2011

Grant funding of £2.5 million has been awarded to a research project investigating a drug intended to make IVF safer. The study involves collaboration between researchers Dr Waljit Dhillo, Professor Steve Bloom (both Medicine), Professor Deborah Ashby (Public Health) and Dr Geoffrey Trew (Surgery and Cancer).

The funds will be used to test a hormone called kisspeptin which could help women trying to conceive a baby using IVF treatment. A drug called hCG is currently used to stimulate the ovaries to release eggs when women undergo IVF treatment. However, hCG sometimes causes a condition called ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome (OHSS) which can be a life-threatening complication.

This translational research project aims to test the ability of kisspeptin to release eggs in IVF treatment while eliminating the risk of OHSS. Symptoms of OHSS include producing too many eggs from the ovaries, bloating through fluid retention and a very swollen abdomen, and may require a patient to be hospitalised for weeks.

Principal investigator Dr Dhillo, Reader and Consultant in Endocrinology, said: “The study will see the development of the drug hCG taken to the next stage as Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital IVF patients begin to try it out and, hopefully, see its benefits.”

The scientists will look into how well kisspeptin works compared to hCG, how many eggs patients produce and the quality of the embryos which result.

This project has been jointly funded by the National Institute for Health Research, the Medical Research Council and the Imperial Biomedical Research Centre. The hormone kisspeptin is currently being manufactured for the trial and the study will start next year.

www2.imperial.ac.uk

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