THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BODY MASS INDEX (BMI) AND SERUM ANTI-MULLERIAN HORMONE (AMH) LEVELS

ZAHRA HEIDAR, SARAH BAHRAMZADEH*, MAHTAB MOTEVASSELIAN, BEHNAZ AMIR NAZARI        

Infertility and reproductive health research center (IRHRC), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical sciences, Tehran, Iran

Background and objective: Reduced ovarian reserve is associated with a decrease in quality and quantity of oocytes and thus adverse effects in IVF cycles. Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) has been accepted as a prognostic marker of ovarian reserve. The relationship between BMI and serum AMH levels has not been well documented. The main purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between BMI and AMH level in IVF candidate infertile women referred to an infertility clinic.

Materials and methods: through a cross-sectional study, IVF candidates were recruited. BMI and serum AMH were measured. Then, stimulation of ovulation began on days 3-4. Patients were assigned to three groups with poor ovarian response (≤3 oocytes), adequate ovarian response (4-12 oocytes) and excessive ovarian response (>12 oocytes) based on the number of oocytes retrieved.

Results: The results of linear regression showed no significant relationship between AMH levels and BMI (P = 0.8). Only in overweight individuals, the likelihood of forming an oocyte was 10% higher than those with normal BMI, and this relationship was not observed for obese subjects (P = 0.3). In obese people, there is no relationship between AMH levels and poor and excessive ova- rian responses.

Discussion and conclusion: this study showed that AMH does not correlate with BMI. In obese infertile women, AMH is not an appropriate indicator of ovarian response.