n-acetyl cysteine in ovulation induction of pcos women underwent intrauterine insemination: an rct

Background: n-acetyl cysteine (nac) was proposed as an adjuvant to clomiphene citratefor ovulation induction in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (pcos) without clomiphene citrate resistance. objective: to evaluate the effect of nac on pregnancy rate in pcos patients who were candidates for intrauterine insemination. materials and methods: in this randomized clinical trial 97 pcos women aged 18 -38 years were enrolled in two groups, randomly. for the case group (n=49), nac (1.2 gr)+ clomiphene citrate (100 mg) + letrozole (5mg) were prescribed daily from the third day of menstruation cycle for five days. the control group (n=48) had the same drug regimen without nac. in order to follicular development, gonalf was injected on days of 7-11 menstrual cycles in all participants. when the follicle size was 18mm or more, hcg (10000 iu) was injected intramuscular and the intrauterine insemination was performed after 34-36 hr. results: there were not significant differences between study groups regarding mean endometrial thickness (p=0.14), mean number of mature follicles (p=0.20) and the pregnancy rate (p=0.09). conclusion: nac is ineffective in inducing or augmenting ovulation in pcos patients who were candidates for intrauterine insemination and cannot be recommended as an adjuvant to cc in such patients.