Association between serum progesterone concentration on the day before frozen embryo transfer and pregnancy outcomes

Authors

Keywords:

dydrogesterone, embryo transfer, hormone replacement therapy, progesterone

Abstract

Introduction: Progesterone is a key hormone linked to in vitro fertilisation outcomes, and serum progesterone is a significant marker before embryo transfer.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between serum progesterone (P4) concentrations measured one day before frozen blastocyst transfer and pregnancy outcomes.

Methods: The prospective study included 276 frozen blastocyst transfer cycles. Endometrial preparation was performed using hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and luteal support was provided with 800 mg micronized vaginal progesterone and 20 mg oral dydrogesterone daily. Serum P4 was measured one day before embryo transfer. The positive hCG rate, clinical pregnancy rate, and live birth rate were evaluated.

Results: The live birth group had significantly lower mean P4 levels than the non-live birth group (13.1 vs 15.7 ng/mL, p = 0.0008). Clinical pregnancy and live birth rates were lower in the highest P4 tercile (>14.50 ng/mL) compared to lower terciles (<14.50 ng/mL). A receiver operating characteristic analysis showed serum P4 was a significant predictor of live birth, with an optimal cut-off of 14.75 ng/mL (44.8% sensitivity, 81.2% specificity).

Conclusions: In patients using our HRT protocol, higher serum progesterone levels on the day before embryo transfer were associated with reduced pregnancy and live birth rates.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

1. Lorillon M, Robin G, Keller L, Cailliau E, Delcourt C, Simon V, et al. Is oral dydrogesterone equivalent to vaginal micronized progesterone for luteal phase support in women receiving oocyte donation? [Internet] Reproductive biology and endocrinology: RB&E. 2024;22(1):154. DOI: 10.1186/s12958-024-01322-7

2. Vuong LN, Pham TD, Le KT, Ly TT, Le HL, Nguyen DT, et al. Micronized progesterone plus dydrogesterone versus micronized progesterone alone for luteal phase support in frozen-thawed cycles (MIDRONE): a prospective cohort study [Internet]. Human Reproduction. 2021;36(7):1821-31. DOI: 10.1093/humrep/deab093

3. Alsbjerg B, Labarta E, Humaidan P. Serum progesterone levels on day of embryo transfer in frozen embryo transfer cycles—the truth lies in the detail [Internet]. Journal of Assisted Reproduction Genetics. 2020;37:2045-6. DOI: 10.1007/s10815-020-01851-1

4. Alur-Gupta S, Hopeman M, Berger DS, Barnhart KT, Senapati S, Gracia C. Measuring serum estradiol and progesterone one day prior to frozen embryo transfer improves live birth rates [Internet]. Fertility Research Practice. 2020;6(1):1-7. DOI: 10.1186/s40738-020-00075-2

5. Álvarez M, Gaggiotti-Marre S, Martínez F, Coll L, García S, González-Foruria I, et al. Individualised luteal phase support in artificially prepared frozen embryo transfer cycles based on serum progesterone levels: a prospective cohort study [Internet]. Human Reproduction. 2021;36(6):1552-60. DOI: 10.1093/humrep/deab031

6. Gaggiotti-Marre S, Martinez F, Coll L, Garcia S, Álvarez M, Parriego M, et al. Low serum progesterone the day prior to frozen embryo transfer of euploid embryos is associated with significant reduction in live birth rates [Internet]. Gynecological Endocrinology. 2019;35(5):439-42. DOI: 10.1080/09513590.2018.1534952

7. Volovsky M, Pakes C, Rozen G, Polyakov A. Do serum progesterone levels on day of embryo transfer influence pregnancy outcomes in artificial frozen-thaw cycles [Internet]. Journal of Assisted Reproduction Genetics. 2020;37:1129-35. DOI: 10.1007/s10815-020-01713-w

8. Coticchio G, Ahlström A, Arroyo G, Balaban B, Campbell A, De Los Santos MJ, et al. The Istanbul Consensus update: a revised ESHRE/ALPHA consensus on oocyte and embryo static and dynamic morphological assessment [Internet]. Reprod Biomed Online. 2025;50(6):104955. DOI: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2025.104955

9. Quenby S, Gallos ID, Dhillon-Smith RK, Podesek M, Stephenson MD, Fisher J, et al. Miscarriage matters: the epidemiological, physical, psychological, and economic costs of early pregnancy loss [Internet]. The Lancet. 2021;397(10285):1658-67. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00682-6

10. Alyasin A, Agha-Hosseini M, Kabirinasab M, Saeidi H, Nashtaei MS. Serum progesterone levels greater than 32.5 ng/ml on the day of embryo transfer are associated with lower live birth rate after artificial endometrial preparation: a prospective study [Internet]. Reproductive Biology Endocrinology. 2021;19:1-9. DOI: 10.1186/s12958-021-00703-6

11. Thomsen L, Kesmodel U, Erb K, Bungum L, Pedersen D, Hauge B, et al. The impact of luteal serum progesterone levels on live birth rates—a prospective study of 602 IVF/ICSI cycles [Internet]. Human Reproduction. 2018;33(8):1506-16. DOI: 10.1093/humrep/dey226

12. Ranisavljevic N, Huberlant S, Montagut M, Alonzo PM, Darné B, Languille S, et al. Low Luteal Serum Progesterone Levels Are Associated With Lower Ongoing Pregnancy and Live Birth Rates in ART: Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses. Frontiers in endocrinology. 2022;13:892753. DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2022.892753

13. Kofinas JD, Blakemore J, McCulloh DH, Grifo J. Serum progesterone levels greater than 20 ng/dl on day of embryo transfer are associated with lower live birth and higher pregnancy loss rates [Internet]. Journal of assisted reproduction genetics. 2015;32:1395-9. DOI: 10.1007/s10815-015-0546-7

14. Alsbjerg B, Thomsen L, Elbaek HO, Laursen R, Povlsen BB, Haahr T, et al. Progesterone levels on pregnancy test day after hormone replacement therapy-cryopreserved embryo transfer cycles and related reproductive outcomes [Internet]. Reproductive biomedicine online. 2018;37(5):641-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2018.08.022

15. Neumann K, Masuch A, Vonthein R, Depenbusch M, Schultze-Mosgau A, Eggersmann TK, et al. Dydrogesterone and 20alpha-dihydrodydrogesterone plasma levels on day of embryo transfer and clinical outcome in an anovulatory programmed frozen-thawed embryo transfer cycle: a prospective cohort study [Internet]. Hum Reprod. 2022;37(6):1183-93. DOI: 10.1093/humrep/deac045

16. Baldini GM, Mastrorocco A, Hatirnaz S, Malvasi A, Cazzato G, Cascardi E, et al. Evaluation of the ideal vaginal Progesterone effectiveness doses for luteal support in embryo thawing cycles after endometrial preparation without using the GnRh analogue [Internet]. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2023;27(5):2018-26. DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_202303_31568

17. Lawrenz B, Ata B, Fatemi HM. The good, the bad and the ugly of luteal phase stimulations. Reprod Biomed Online. 2024;49(6):104383. DOI: 10.1016/j.rbmo.2024.104383

Downloads

Published

2025-11-24

How to Cite

1.
Doan Thi H, Trinh Quoc T, Nguyen Minh P, Trinh An T, Pham M. H, Trinh The S, et al. Association between serum progesterone concentration on the day before frozen embryo transfer and pregnancy outcomes. Rev. cuba. med. mil [Internet]. 2025 Nov. 24 [cited 2025 Nov. 28];54(4):e025076703. Available from: https://revmedmilitar.sld.cu/index.php/mil/article/view/76703