Results & Publications
The CERM Trial results have now been published:
Odendaal J, Black N, Bouliotis G, et. al. A double-blind multi-centre randomised placebo-controlled trial of doxycycline in women with recurrent miscarriage and chronic endometritis defined by CD138 positive stromal cells. Human Reproduction, deag133, https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deag133Link opens in a new window
Lay summary of the CERM trial results:
It has been proposed that recurrent miscarriage is caused by bacteria, in the in the lining of the womb leading to a condition called chronic endometritis.
We took samples from 713 women with recurrent miscarriage and tested them for chronic endometritis with CD138.
438 women positive for CD138 were told they had chronic endometritis and were randomly allocated to be given either doxycycline 100mg twice a day for 14 days or identical placebo tablets. Women were followed up until the end of the trial for a minimum of one year.
We found that Doxycycline taken before pregnancy did not increase the number of live births or reduce miscarriages.
A smaller number of women (202) had repeated sampling. The change in chronic endometritis before and after placebo and doxycycline were similar. Those with chronic endometritis on placebo tablet had more live births than those without chronic endometritis.
This was the first placebo-controlled trial of doxycycline for those with recurrent miscarriage and chronic endometritis and our results do not support its use.