HKU Researchers Demonstrate Finerenone's Potential in Treating Premature Ovarian Insufficiency
核心洞察
Researchers at the University of Hong Kong discovered that finerenone, a diabetes medication, can restore follicular development in women with premature ovarian insufficiency (搜索).
A 2024 clinical trial involving 14 patients showed that slightly over half of participants experienced improved follicular development after taking finerenone twice weekly for up to seven months.
The breakthrough offers new hope for women under 40 with POI (搜索), a condition affecting up to 3% of women globally and for which conventional IVF treatment is ineffective.
Researchers at the University of Hong Kong have identified a promising new treatment for premature ovarian insufficiency (搜索) (POI (搜索)), a condition that affects up to three percent of women worldwide and represents a significant cause of infertility (搜索). The team discovered that finerenone, a drug currently used to treat diabetes-related kidney complications, can restore follicular development in women under 40 whose ovaries have stopped functioning properly.
Clinical Trial Results Show Promise
A clinical trial launched in 2024 at HKU-Shenzhen Hospital (搜索) involving 14 patients demonstrated that finerenone could help with follicular development in slightly over half of the participants. The treatment protocol involved taking the drug twice a week for up to seven months, marking a significant departure from the current standard of care.
Ernest Ng from the Faculty of Medicine at HKU (搜索) explained the current treatment limitations: "The current treatment is we just wait, until the patient sometimes in a very small proportion, they may have actually a follicle developed, but it can take several months or even in terms of years. So basically we tell the patient that there's no effective treatment, especially drug treatment."
Addressing an Unmet Medical Need
For women with POI (搜索), conventional in vitro fertilization (IVF) proves ineffective because their follicles fail to develop eggs. This leaves patients with limited options, as Ng noted: "We won't be able to proceed to IVF because we aren't actually be able to see any follicle and there's no point to stimulate the patients with drugs anyway."
The breakthrough represents what Ng described as "a very important breakthrough because at least now after giving the patient some drugs for some time, we'll be able to actually see the follicle on the ultrasound, and that they can actually be stimulated to develop the follicle."
Safety Profile and Accessibility
The research team reported that side effects from finerenone treatment would be minimal, with low blood pressure being the primary concern. Importantly, these side effects are expected to be less severe compared to those observed when the drug is used to treat chronic kidney disease (搜索) in type 2 diabetes (搜索) patients.
Cost accessibility remains favorable, with the drug costing up to HK$200 on the mainland. Ng indicated that he does not expect any drastic price increase following this discovery, maintaining the treatment's affordability for patients.
Future Research Directions
The research team plans to expand their investigation through trials involving multiple hospitals. Additionally, they aim to determine whether finerenone's benefits extend to women over 40, potentially broadening the treatment's applicability beyond the current study population of women under 40 with POI (搜索).