Effect of orlistat intervention on in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection outcome in overweight/obese infertile women

Objective: This retrospective study sought to evaluate the effect of orlistat intervention on the outcome of in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) in overweight/obese infertile women.

Methods: Twenty-nine overweight/obese patients undergoing IVF/ICSI for the first time were treated with orlistat intervention (orlistat group). Another 29 patients with matched age and body mass index (BMI) were included in the control group at a ratio of 1:1. Clinical data of both groups were collected, and the clinical baseline data, IVF/ICSI cycle information and embryo transfer outcome were compared between groups by Student's t-test or chi-square test when appropriate.

Results: The 29 patients in the orlistat group completed 37 embryo transfer cycles, and the 29 subjects in the control group completed 38 embryo transfer cycles. There was no significant difference in the clinical baseline data or IVF/ICSI cycle data between the two groups (p > .05). In the end, 22 transfer cycles in orlistat group obtained clinical pregnancies, 5 obtained biochemical pregnancies and 10 had non-pregnancies. As for the control group, 15 transfer cycles obtained clinical pregnancies, 15 achieved biochemical pregnancies and 8 had non-pregnancies. The clinical pregnancy rate of the orlistat group was significantly higher than that of the control group (59.46% versus 39.47%, p = .004), but there was no significant difference in the live birth rate between the two groups (54.05% versus 36.84%, p > .05).

Conclusions: Orlistat intervention for overweight/obese infertile women receiving IVF/ICSI treatment will increase the clinical pregnancy rate, without affecting the total amount of gonadotropins, ovarian stimulation time or the follicular output rate (FORT).