Israelis discover how to boost success rate of fertility treatments

Israeli scientists find hyaluronic acid boosts success rate of in-vitro treatments.

By Sharon Wrobel, The Algemeiner

Israeli scientists have found that a type of acid helps boost the odds of success for women trying to conceive by using their own eggs when undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF).

The study conducted by a team of researchers at Israel’s Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU), and published in the peer-reviewed journal Human Reproduction, established that the method had the best outcome for women in fertility treatments who are given the lowest prognosis of having a baby using their own eggs.

About 10-15 percent of couples worldwide have infertility problems, the researchers noted, and many are turning to artificial reproductive technologies including IVF. However, only about one-third of IVF cycles, on average, are successful.

The clinical benefit of hyaluronic acid, a substance found in the human body, is believed to increase the likelihood of embryo implantation, which improves the potential for pregnancy and live births.

The analysis of 15 trials, involving 4,686 participants, showed an increase in birth rate in cases where a woman was implanted with her own fertilized egg and not in cases where donor eggs were used.

In Israel, IVF has been performed since 1980 and today the country has the highest number of IVF treatment cycles per capita in the world. Israel is also one of the few countries in the world that finances a large number of fertility treatment cycles through its healthcare system.

Heymann hopes that the findings of the study will prompt IVF clinics to start the use of hyaluronic acid.

At the same time, she remarked that, “hyaluronic acid is expensive, and this might mean it is not as widely used as it should be.”