N-acetyl Cysteine for Ovulation Induction in Clomiphene Citrate Resistant Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Overview

Polycystic ovary syndrome is a major endocrinological disorder affecting 5-8% of reproductive aged women. Anovulation is a major feature of the syndrome, managed primarily by clomiphene citrate. Failure to respond to clomiphene citrate is termed clomiphene resistance and second line treatment is either laparoscopic ovarian drilling or gonadotrophin ovulation induction. Although laparoscopic drilling is effective in restoring ovulation and achieving pregnancy, some women still remain anovulatory and infertile after the procedure. N-acetyl cysteine has emerged as a novel therapeutic adjuvant to laparoscopic drilling to improve ovulation and pregnancy rate.

Resistance to ovulation induction therapy with clomiphene citrate (CC) is a significant problem affecting as many as 25% of patients. Laparoscopic ovarian drilling is an accepted second line treatment option, achieving ovulation in 75-90% and pregnancy in 50-69% of the CC resistant patients. Adjuvants to laparoscopic drilling have been explored by researchers some studies have shown evidence of improved outcome with the use of N-Acetyl cystiene (NAC), a long used mucolytic drug which has been used for various other indications including detoxification and cancer chemoprotection. Several studies have addressed the possibility of using NAC as adjuvant therapy to Clomiphene citrate for induction of ovulation in resistant patients with some showing encouraging results. The use of NAC as adjuvant to laparoscopic ovarian drilling was addressed in a single pilot study showing good results with improved ovulation and pregnancy rates compared to the non users.