Tear up the paper tiger and rediscover fertility and ovarian function

Abstract

Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), as the main indicator of ovarian function, plays an important role in the clinical activities of gynecologic endocrinology. Although anti-Müllerian hormone and antral follicle count are also the indictors evaluating ovarian function, many clinicians are still relentless in their decision to impose the death penalty of ovaries when high FSH levels (especially more than 40 IU/L) are observed. We recently encountered four patients whose FSH levels were inconsistent with actual fertility because all patients had successfully conceived after treatment. In our study, we found the culprit (macro-FSH) of false-positive FSH levels by applying the polyethylene glycol protein precipitation technique. The biological functions of macro-FSH were further evaluated by using Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis. This study suggests that ovarian reserve function should be comprehensively assessed in clinic, and the causes of serum test indicators inconsistent with clinic should be identified.