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Anti-Müllerian hormone levels decreased in PCOS with oral contraceptive treatment
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Treatment with oral contraceptives and oral contraceptives plus metformin decreased anti-Müllerian hormone levels in adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome, according to recent findings.
Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels may provide a good tool for assessing treatment in patients with PCOS, according to researchers.
Fatma Dursun, MD, of Ümraniye Education and Research Hospital, Clinic of Pediatric Endocrinology in Istanbul, and colleagues evaluated 49 adolescents with PCOS to determine whether treatment with oral contraceptives and oral contraceptives plus metformin reduced AMH levels.
Participants without insulin resistance were assigned oral contraceptives (n = 29) and those with insulin resistance were assigned with oral contraceptives plus metformin (n = 20). Before and 6 months after treatment, AMH and androgen levels were measured.
At 6 months, serum AMH levels decreased from baseline 6.7 ng/mL to 4.3 ng/mL in the oral contraceptive group (P = .006) and from 4.7 ng/mL to 3.1 ng/mL in the oral contraceptive plus metformin group (P = .048). There was no significant difference in AMH level reduction between the two groups.
Both groups had significant increases in sex-hormone binding globulin; testosterone decreased but without significance. The oral contraceptive plus metformin group had decreased androstenedione.
“The present study demonstrated that treatment reduced AMH levels in adolescents with PCOS and it was not associated with hyperandrogenism,” the researchers wrote. “AMH correlated with ovarian volume and both AMH and ovarian volume decreased after treatment. We think that AMH could be used instead of transabdominal pelvis [ultrasonography], independent of hyperandrogenism. AMH seems to be a good parameter for monitoring adolescent patients with PCOS because it is easy to measure at any period during the cycle.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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