Anti-Mullerian Hormone as a Marker of Ovarian Reserve and Function

Abstract

BACKGROUND Ovarian reserve tests are required to screen women with a diminished ovarian reserve so that women who are more likely to exhibit poor response to ovarian stimulation and a lower likelihood of becoming pregnant with treatment can be identified. AIM AND OBJECTIVES This study aimed to determine whether serum anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) level is a better predictor of ovarian reserve and function than other biochemical tests for ovarian reserve. The primary objective of this study was to find out the correlations of day 3 serum luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), estradiol, inhibin B, AMH, ovarian volume, and antral follicle count (AFC) with advancing age; and a secondary objective was to find out the correlations between day 3 serum AMH, LH, FSH, estradiol, and inhibin B levels with AFC. METHODS This was a prospective, single-center, observational study. A total of 100 infertile women who attended the Gynecology outpatient department over a period of two years and met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. History, clinical examination, routine investigations, hysterosalpingography for tubal patency, estimation of day 3 serum AMH, LH, FSH, estradiol and inhibin B, measurement of ovarian volume, and AFC were done. Correlations of different parameters with advancing age and with AFC were found using Spearman's rho correlations. p-value < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS The maximum infertile women were in the age group of 21-30 years (58 of 100). Serum AMH showed the strongest negative correlation (r=-0.931) with age, followed by AFC (r=-0.884), ovarian volume (r=-0.876), and inhibin B (r=-0.878), whereas serum LH, FSH, and estradiol showed a positive correlation (r=0.589, 0.408, and 0.638 respectively). Serum AMH also showed a strong positive correlation (r=0.972) with AFC followed by ovarian volume (r=0.919) and inhibin B (r=0.769), whereas serum LH, FSH, and estradiol showed a negative correlation (r=-0.504, -0.663, and -0.543 respectively) with AFC.  Conclusion: Among all the different tests of ovarian reserve, serum AMH was the most reliable indicator of reproductive aging and decline in the ovarian pool as well as very closely related to AFC, which is one of the best predictors of ovarian reserve.