G-CSF pharmacologic supplementation in the ART (Assisted Reproductive Technologies) treatment cycles of low responder women

Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor (G-CSF) is a cytokine discovered as a growth factor for granulocytes but it has been shown to have a lot of other physiologic actions. Recently, its role in the reproductive systems has been pointed out and particularly in ovarian follicles where the G-CSF concentration was found to be directly correlated to the oocyte quality and this was in relationship to the patient age.In order to improve the response of the ovary to the pharmacologic stimulatory treatment we administered a supplementation of G-CSF to low responder women in ART cycles.Our data show that G-CSF supplementation is effective to improve the results in the ART treatment of low responder women. This cytokine seems to have a local paracrine effect on oocytes stimulating their ability to develop under pharmacological stimulation and maybe even to be fertilized