Can serum anti-M?llerian hormone (AMH) levels measured in female adolescents predict polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)-associated features in adolescence and early adulthood?
AMH levels associated well with PCOS-associated features (such as testosterone levels and oligoamenorrhoea) in adolescence, but was not an ideal marker to predict PCOS-associated features in early adulthood.
Several studies have reported that there is a strong correlation between antral follicle count and serum AMH levels and that women with PCOS/PCO have significantly higher serum AMH levels than women with normal ovaries. Other studies have reported an association between AMH serum levels and hyperandrogenism in adolescence, but none has prospectively assessed AMH as a risk predictor for developing features of PCOS during adulthood.
A subset of 400 girls was selected from the prospective population-based Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (n = 4567 at age 16 and n = 4503 at age 26). The population has been followed from 1986 to the present.
At age 16, 400 girls (100 from each testosterone quartile: 50 with oligo- or amenorrhoea and 50 with a normal menstrual cycle) were selected at random from the cohort for AMH measurement. Metabolic parameters were also assessed at age 16 in all participants. Postal questionnaires enquired about oligo- or amenorrhoea, hirsutism, contraceptive use and reproductive health at ages 16 and 26.
There was a significant correlation between AMH and testosterone at age 16 (r = 0.36, P
Notes
Cites: Ann Clin Biochem. 2011 Jul;48(Pt 4):370-321628625