15 August 2020 | New Scientist | 15A WOMAN experiencing
menopause has given birth
after receiving a blood treatment
injected into her ovaries. Three
perimenopausal women – those
beginning to transition into
menopause – have also had
babies following the treatment,
according to a small pilot study.
Known as platelet-rich plasma,
the technique is being developed
as a potential fertility treatment
by Konstantinos Pantos and his
colleagues at the Genesis Athens
fertility clinic in Greece.
Around 60 millilitres of blood
is taken from the arm and spun
in a centrifuge to remove red and
white blood cells. The remaining
plasma contains platelets, cell
fragments that help blood clot
and appear to play a role in the
regeneration of tissues. This
platelet-rich plasma, or PRP,
is then injected into both ovaries.
Pantos and his colleagues
have been offering PRP as a paid
service for the past five years.
“We have treated several hundred
women,” says Pantos. Some
want to get pregnant or reduce
menopause symptoms, while
others want to restore hormone
levels to feel younger.
As part of a pilot trial, the
team tested the effects of PRP in
30 perimenopausal women and
30 menopausal women between
2017 and 2019. The perimenopausal
women were all aged 40 or over
and had irregular periods, high
levels of hormones that are
elevated in menopause or both.
The menopausal volunteers were
aged between 45 and 55, hadn’t
had a period for at least a year
and also had high hormone levels.
None of the women had to pay.
Within three months of
receiving PRP, 80 per cent of the
perimenopausal women showed
improvements in hormone levels
and had their periods fall into a
regular cycle. Four of the women
became pregnant within this
three-month window, and three
went on to have babies.
Of the 30 menopausal women
who received PRP, 13 had their
periods restored and experienced
significant shifts in their hormone
levels. One of these women
became pregnant within three
months of treatment, and she has
since given birth. None of these
women had IVF, and they weren’trequired to be trying to get
pregnant to be part of the study.
Many of the women also
reported improvements in
their menopause symptoms,
says Pantos, who presented the
findings at a virtual meeting of
the European Society of Human
Reproduction and Embryology.
Because PRP wasn’t tested
against a placebo, it isn’t clear if it
improves fertility in menopausal
women. But the chance of
conception in women with poorlyfunctioning ovaries is only around
5 per cent over the course of their
lives, says Scott Nelson at the
University of Glasgow, UK. “The
four cases would be higher than
expected,” he says.
Richard Anderson at the
University of Edinburgh, UK, isn’t
convinced by the results, though.
“It’s extremely preliminary,” he
says. He points out that treatmentscan look good in pilot studies and
then fail in more rigorous trials.
Emre Seli at Yale University also
has concerns, but adds that he has
seen similarly promising results
at his own clinic. “I can’t tell you
100 per cent that this is going to be
a super useful intervention,” says
Seli. “But I find it very exciting.”
It isn’t clear how, if at all, PRP
might be working. “There are
loads of questions that we still
have to answer,” says Mara
Simopoulou at the University
of Athens, Greece, who has been
working with Pantos.
Much more research is needed
before PRP can be considered as
a fertility treatment. Pantos’s
team is running four randomised,
placebo-controlled clinical trials,
while Seli is running another two.
These studies should clarify
whether PRP is any better than a
placebo. “It’s still research, and it
needs to be kept that way until we
know more about it,” says Pantos. ❚WI
LP
UNT/GET
TY
IMAGESThe menopause normally
occurs between the age
of 45 and 55Fertility
Jessica Hamzelou
Menopausal and pregnant
A blood plasma treatment may help restore ovaries
5%
Lifetime chance of conception
with poorly functioning ovariesAisha’s* hopes of having a second
child were dashed when she
became menopausal aged 38.
Aisha, who lives in Dubai, had
been having IVF treatment at the
time. “Doctors told me I could not
have a child anymore,” she says.
She opted to pay for an
injection of platelet-rich plasma,
administered by Konstantinos
Pantos and his colleagues at the
Genesis Athens fertility clinic in
Greece (she wasn’t part of the trial
discussed in the main story). After
treatment, her periods restarted,and levels of a hormone called
AMH, which is thought to indicate
egg reserve, increased tenfold.
She restarted IVF, but didn’t
make progress and didn’t have
any embryos implanted. Six
months later, she returned to
Athens for a second treatment.
“This time I could feel the
difference,” she says. “I could
see it in my looks, and I felt
younger.” Within a few months,
Aisha conceived her daughter
without IVF.
*Not her real nameBirth story