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New York Fertility Center Receives Second DHEA Patent for Use in Female Infertility and Reduction of Chromosomal Abnormalities in Embryos
DHEA supplementation in female infertlity reduces chromosomal abnormalities in embryos, according to the second U.S. patent issued to the Center for Human Reproduction in New York City.
For immediate release
December XX, 2011 (New York, NY) - New York's Center for Human Reproduction (CHR) announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has awareded CHR a U.S. patent, serial number 8,067,400, titled "Androgen Treatments in Females."
The claims of this allowed application, the second allowed to CHR, are based on CHR's research of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in women with infertility. The claims are directed to the methods of decreasing aneuploidy rates (chromosomal abnormalities) in human embryos, decreasing time to pregnancy and increasing pregnancy rates by administering an androgen for at least two months.
In lay terms, this means that it is recognized, in this second patent issued to CHR, that DHEA increases pregnancy rates, reduces time to get pregnant and reduces chromosomal abnormalities in embryos. DHEA is, thus, the first agent ever recognized to reduce chromosomal abnormalities in human embryos. Since approximately 85% of all human miscarriages are believed to be due to chromosomal abnormalities, it can also be assumed that DHEA reduces miscarriage rates.
Indeed, CHR investigators already observed reductions in miscarriage risk after DHEA supplementation [Gleicher et al., Miscarriage rates after dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) supplementation in women with diminished ovarian reserve: a case control study. Reprod Biol Endocrinol 2009;7:108].
"This second patent awarded to CHR only confirms the increasing importance of DHEA supplementation in female infertility, which we've observed through our research for over seven years," says Norbert Gleicher, MD, CHR's Founder and Medical Director, and one of the inventors listed on the DHEA patents. He further points out: "Acceptance of the claim that DHEA reduces chromosomal abnormalities in embryos offers exciting new opportunities, because it suggests that DHEA supplementation may benefit women with normal fertility."
David H. Barad, MD, CHR's Director of Clinical IVF, and a second inventor listed on the patents, picks up on this thought: "Chromosomal abnormalities in embryos increase as women age with miscarriage rates rising in parallel. DHEA supplementation may, therefore, also be useful in older women with normal fertility, trying to conceive on their own." He continues, "the prenatal multivitamins of the future may also contain a little bit of DHEA."
About Center for Human Reproduction
Center for Human Reproduction, or CHR, is a leading fertility center in the United States with a worldwide reputation as a "fertility center of last resort," specializing in the most complex cases of infertility, including premature ovarian aging. Under the leadership of Drs. Norbert Gleicher and David H. Barad, CHR has pioneered the use of DHEA supplementation in female infertility. Dr. Gleicher and Dr. Barad are available for additional comments.
Contact:
Communications Manager
212-994-4400 x.4491
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