Serum antimüllerian hormone/müllerian-inhibiting substance appears to be a more discriminatory marker of assisted reproductive technology outcome than follicle-stimulating hormone, inhibin B, or estradiol.

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that the concentration of early follicular phase serum antimullerian hormone (AMH) or mullerian-inhibiting substance (MIS) is a useful marker of ovarian response and assisted reproductive technology (ART) outcome.

DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of day 3 serum samples drawn before treatment.

SETTING: Private ART program.

PATIENT(S): One hundred nine consecutive serum samples from women younger than 42 years of age who were undergoing ovulation induction for IVF.

INTERVENTION(S): Follicular aspiration for IVF after ovarian stimulation with FSH in a down-regulated cycle using GnRH-a treatment.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Correlations between day 3 serum AMH/MIS, E2, FSH, inhibin B levels, and IVF outcome (i.e., number of retrieved mature oocytes, number and quality of embryos obtained, ongoing clinical pregnancy rates). Multivariate regression analysis on categorical data was performed to describe a predictive model of clinical pregnancy outcome.

RESULT(S): Mean serum AMH/MIS value for clinical pregnancy (n = 38) was 2.4 ng/mL, in comparison to 1.1 ng/mL for those who did not become pregnant (n = 71). No differences were noted in mean values for day 3 FSH, inhibin B, or E2 between groups. Multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that day 3 serum AMH/MIS had the greatest independent contribution in predicting pregnancy outcomes.

CONCLUSION(S): These data demonstrate a strong association between day 3 serum AMH/MIS level and IVF outcome in women younger than 42 years of age. Higher AMH/MIS concentrations are associated with a greater number of mature oocytes, a greater number of embryos, and ultimately a higher clinical pregnancy rate. Furthermore, AMH/MIS may offer greater prognostic value than other currently available serum markers of ART outcome.