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Anti-müllerian hormone capable of predicting future age at menopause
Broer SL. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2011;doi:10.1210/jc.2010-2776.
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Age-specific levels of anti-müllerian hormone can predict when a woman will reach menopause, according to researchers at the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands.
The researchers conducted a study of 257 normo-ovulatory women aged 21 to 46 years who were monitored for about 11 years. The study examined anti-müllerian hormone levels to the point when the woman entered menopause. Based on these data, researchers were able to predict menopausal age.
Forty-eight women (19%) had reached menopause at the median 11-year assessment. Age, anti-müllerian hormone and antral follicle count at baseline were significantly related with time to menopause (P<.001) and showed a good percentage of correct predictions of menopausal age. When the researchers adjusted for age, only anti-müllerian hormone added to this prediction, they said.
According to their calculations, a 30-year-old woman who has an anti-müllerian hormone concentration of about 0.15 ng/mL has a predicted median age at menopause of 48.8 years, whereas a 30-year-old woman with a concentration close to 4.38 ng/mL will have a predicted age at menopause of 55.3 years.
“This prospective study is the first to report on long-term follow-up of ovarian reserve status in normo-ovulatory women. It demonstrates that anti-müllerian hormone is capable of predicting future age at menopause for a given woman,” the researchers wrote.
This knowledge will enable women who are predicted to become infertile at an early age to choose the option of having their eggs frozen, according to a press release from The Endocrine Society.
“This finding opens new avenues for the primary prevention of infertility and menopause-related disease conditions,” the researchers wrote.
However, they said these findings may only be translated into clinical practice after a thorough assay standardization.
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