Correlation of oocyte number with serum anti-Müllerian hormone levels measured by either Access or Elecsys in fresh in vitro fertilization cycles

Objective

The aim of this study was to assess the correlation of oocyte number with serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels measured by two automated methods (Access or Elecsys) in fresh stimulated in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles.

Methods

In this retrospective study at a university hospital, data were collected from 243 fresh stimulated IVF cycles performed from August 2016 to December 2020. The serum AMH level was measured by Access in 120 cycles and by Elecsys in 123 cycles. The cut-off of serum AMH for prediction of poor responders (three or fewer oocytes) or high responders (15 or more oocytes) was calculated by the receiver operating characteristic curve analysis.

Results

For the two automated methods, the following equations were derived: total oocyte number=2.378+1.418×(Access-AMH) (r=0.645, p<0.001) and total oocyte number=2.417+2.163×(Elecsys-AMH) (r=0.686, p<0.001). The following combined equation could be derived: (Access-AMH)=0.028+1.525×(Elecsys-AMH). To predict poor responders, the cut-off of Access-AMH was 1.215 ng/mL (area under the curve [AUC], 0.807; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.730–0.884; p<0.001), and the cut-off of Elecsys-AMH was 1.095 ng/mL (AUC, 0.848; 95% CI, 0.773–0.923; p<0.001). To predict high responders, the cut-off of Access-AMH was 3.450 ng/mL (AUC, 0.922; 95% CI, 0.862–0.981; p<0.001), and the cut-off of Elecsys-AMH was 2.500 ng/mL (AUC, 0.884; 95% CI, 0.778–0.991; p<0.001).

Conclusion

Both automated methods for serum AMH measurement showed a good correlation with oocyte number and good performance for predicting poor and high responders in fresh stimulated IVF cycles. The Access method usually yielded higher measured serum AMH levels than the Elecsys method.

Nomogram of age-specific anti-Müllerian hormone levels in healthy Egyptian females

BACKGROUND

Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is an important determinant of ovarian reserve in fertility workups in many clinical settings. Thus, we investigated the age dependent decline in AMH specific to the Egyptian population and sought to establish an age dependent reference interval parametrically.

METHODS

Serum samples were collected from 841 apparently healthy women. AMH was measured using an electro-chemiluminescent technique. Box-Cox power transformation was used to make the AMH distribution Gaussian for parametric derivation of reference intervals.

RESULTS

Power of 0.4 was found optimal for Gaussian transformation of AMH reference values. We demonstrate the strong negative relation between circulating AMH and female age with Spearman's correlation coefficient of rS = -0.528. Age-specific reference interval was determined for every 5 years of age from 16 to 49, and nomogram was constructed by smoothing the lines connecting adjacent lower and upper reference limits.

CONCLUSION

The age-specific reference intervals and the age-AMH nomogram could be valuable in the clinical practice of in reproductive medicine. To our knowledge, this is the first study to confirm AMH levels in Egyptian females. We were able to explore age-related AMH levels specific to Egyptian females in the fertile age group and to treat skewed AMH data in a multi-step scheme using power transformation. Thus, a more accurate nomogram was constructed accommodating a profile delineated for a wide age range and a rescaled AMH axis improving its usability.

Validation study of the Access antimüllerian hormone assay for the prediction of poor ovarian response to controlled ovarian stimulation

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the diagnostic performance of the antimüllerian hormone (AMH) level determined using the Access AMH assay for predicting poor ovarian response (POR) defined as ≤4 oocytes retrieved, including the validation of the predefined AMH cutoff of 0.93 ng/mL in both serum and plasma.

DESIGN

Prospective cohort study.

SETTING

Fifteen private and academic fertility centers (14 in the United States and 1 in Canada).

PATIENT(S)

Women aged 21-45 years planning controlled ovarian stimulation for in vitro fertilization.

INTERVENTION(S)

None.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)

Number of oocytes retrieved, categorized as POR and normal-to-high ovarian response (non-POR). The correlation of AMH level and antral follicle count.

RESULT(S)

Data were available for 472 participants who completed the study (74 with POR and 398 non-POR). The mean AMH serum level among those with POR was 0.99 ng/mL (median 0.76 ng/mL) compared with 2.83 ng/mL (median 2.36 ng/mL) among the normal-to-high responders. For confirmation of the 0.93 ng/mL AMH level cutoff as a predictor of POR, a receiver operating characteristic analysis gave an area under the curve of 0.852, with corresponding sensitivity and specificity of 63.5% and 89.2%, respectively. The associated positive predictive value was 52.2% and the negative predictive value was 92.9%. The AMH plasma values demonstrated a strong correlation with AMH serum values with an r value = 0.9980. The previously established AMH cutoff of 1.77 ng/mL for antral follicle count >15 resulted in a sensitivity of 83.8% (95% confidence interval [CI] 77.7-88.5) and a specificity of 59.9% (95% CI 54.2-65.4).

CONCLUSION(S)

This study validated the previously established AMH cut-point for the prediction of POR. Because this cut-point may vary depending on the assay used, the specific AMH assay should be reported in the literature whenever possible.