A prospective study on the endometrium properties and the pregnancy rate of infertile women with thin endometrium receiving Fructus ligustri lucidi used in traditional Chinese medicine

Figures & data

Figure 1. The consort flow chart.

Table 1. Basic characteristics of the two groups.

Variable	Before treatment
	Experimental group(n = 55)	Control group(n = 49)	Statistics	p-Value
Age (years) (mean ± SD)	31.84 ± 4.14	30.37 ± 4.27	1.780^#	.078
BMI (kg/m^2) (mean ± SD)	22.59 ± 3.06	23.44 ± 3.01	−1.416^#	.160
FSH (IU/L) median (IQR)	6.71 (5.80-7.12)	6.94 (6.09-8.65)	−1.480^▲	.139
LH (IU/L) median (IQR)	5.98 (4.29-7.68)	6.35 (4.70-9.16)	−1.527^▲	.127
COR (nmol/L) median (IQR)	347.39 (248.81-459.85)	296.70 (221.50-393.30)	−1.340^▲	.180
TSH (mIU/L) (mean ± SD)	2.38 ± 1.20	2.02 ± 0.66	1.715^#	.090
AST (U/L) median (IQR)	16.70 (14.90-19.90)	18.05 (15.45-21.10)	−0.746^▲	.455
ALT (U/L) median (IQR)	14.00 (10.00-18.10)	14.95 (10.73-24.43)	−1.124^▲	.261
BUN (mmol/L) (mean ± SD)	4.51 ± 1.07	4.35 ± 1.16	0.681^#	.498
Years of infertility (years) median (IQR)	1 (1-2)	2 (1-2)	−0.648^▲	.517
Intrauterine operation n (%)	25 (45.5)	24 (49.0)	0.129^■	.719
Induced abortion (≥ 2 times) n (%)	10 (45.5)	12 (60.0)	0.889^■	.346

Abbreviations: BMI = body mass index; COR = cortisol; TSH = thyroid-stimulating hormone; AST = aspartate aminotransferase; ALT = alanine aminotransferase; BUN = blood urea nitrogen.

^▲Represents Mann-Whitney U test; ^#represents t test; ^■represents χ² tests.

Table 2. Between-group comparison of the experimental vs. control group.

Variable	Before treatment				After treatment
	Experimental group (n = 55)	Control group (n = 49)	Statistics	p-Value	Experimental group (n = 38)	Control group (n = 38)	Statistics	p-Value
FSH (IU/L) median (IQR)	6.71 (5.80-7.12)	6.94 (6.09-8.65)	−1.480^▲	.139	3.52 (2.71-6.23)	4.20 (3.09-8.03)	−1.161^▲	.246
E2 (pg/ml) median (IQR)	62.57 (38.93-105.17)	53.72 (34.34-75.41)	−0.399^▲	.690	129.51 (104.12-189.20)	106.95 (76.83-165.03)	−1.505^▲	.132
P (ng/ml)	0.57 (0.35-0.90)	0.59 (0.41-0.87)	−0.079^▲	.937	10.24 ± 8.35	8.87 ± 6.33	0.837^#	.405
EMT (cm)	0.61 (0.52-0.69)	0.62 (0.57-0.70)	−1.096^▲	.273	0.80 ± 0.27	0.68 ± 0.10	2.566^#	.012*
Percentage of type A endometrium n (%)	6 (10.9)	9 (18.4)	1.168^■	.280	13 (34.2)	5 (13.2)	4.659^■	.031*
Pregnancy rate n (%)					24 (43.6)	11 (22.4)	5.210^■	.022*
Miscarriage rate n (%)					3 (12.5)	1 (9.0)	–	1.000
AST (U/L) median (IQR)	16.70 (14.90-19.90)				19.17 (16.43-24.18)		−0.907^▲	.365
ALT (U/L) median (IQR)	14.00 (10.00-18.10)				15.13 (10.65-26.43)		−1.239^▲	.215
BUN (mmol/L) (mean ± SD)	4.51 ± 1.07				4.27 ± 1.10		1.591^#	.117

Abbreviations: FSH = follicle-stimulating hormone; E2= estradiol; P = progesterone; EMT = endometrium thickness.

^▲Represents Mann-Whitney U test; ^#represents t test; ^■represents χ² tests; *represents p < .05.

Figure 2. Within-group comparison of EMT (A) and percentage of type A endometrium (B) before vs. after study for the experimental group.

*Represents p < .05. EMT = endometrium thickness.

Table 3. Univariate analysis of pregnancy-related factors.

Variable	Pregnancy (n = 35)	Non-pregnancy (n = 69)	Statistics	p-Value
Age (years) (mean ± SD)	31.66 ± 3.42	30.88 ± 4.53	0.876^#	.383
BMI (kg/m^2) (mean ± SD)	22.63 ± 2.31	23.16 ± 3.35	−0.940^#	.350
P (ng/ml) (mean ± SD)	9.76 ± 9.77	9.41 ± 9.04	0.180^#	.858
EMT (cm) (mean ± SD)	0.59 ± 0.13	0.61 ± 0.12	−0.913^#	.364
Percentage of type A endometrium n (%)	7 (20.0)	16 (23.2)	0.137^■	.711
Treated with ZGNZC n (%)	24 (68.6)	31 (44.9)	5.210^■	.022*

^#Represents t test; ^■represents χ² tests;*represents p < .05.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author (RXY), upon reasonable request.