Melatonin improves fertilization rate in assisted reproduction: Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland and it has antioxidant properties.
Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of melatonin on assisted reproductive technologies through a systematic review and a meta-analysis.
Materials and Methods: Search strategies were used in PubMed and in other databases covering the last 15 years. After screening for eligibility, 17 articles were selected for the systematic review. For the meta-analysis statistics, two groups were formed, the treatment group (with melatonin) and the control group (without melatonin) for various assisted reproduction outcomes.
Results: The main results were that no statistical differences were found concerning the clinical pregnancy outcome (p = 0.64), but there was a statistical difference with respect to Mature Oocytes (MII) (p = 0.001), antral follicle count (p = 0.0002), and the fertilization rate (p ≤ 0.0001).
Conclusions: Melatonin had beneficial effects such as the improvement in the fertilization rate, although the authors did not obtain significance in the clinical pregnancy rate.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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