Researchers detect “biologically relevant” AMH levels in human hair samples

The prospects for non-invasive testing of ovarian reserve are a bit closer to the results of studies showing that fertilization hormone measurements can be accurately obtained from human hair samples.

Anti-Muller hormone (AMH) is an important marker in assessing how women respond to infertility treatments.

Hormones are considered a measure of ovarian reserve because they are produced by the small cells that surround each egg as it develops in the ovaries.

Although the study does not correlate AMH levels with a reliable likelihood of birth (and prediction of the time of menopause), AMH measurements are essential in assessing how patients respond to ovarian stimulation of IVF. Markers-Poor responders (low egg count) or over-responders (high eggs, high risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, OHSS) as normal responders. (1)

AMH is currently measured in serum taken from blood samples taken intravenously. The reading represents a short time measurement and is relatively invasive to complete.

But now, a new study published at ESHRE’s online annual meeting tests the quantification of AMH from human hair and is less invasive than “acute” sources such as It was found to be “an expression”. serum.

The results will be announced this week in a poster from the PhD. Student Sarthak Sawarkar is working in the laboratory of Professor Manel Lopez-Bejar in Barcelona with a collaborator at MedAnswers Inc in the United States.

The study is ongoing and reports results from 152 women who had regular hair and blood samples taken during their visits to the hospital. AMH, measured in the serum of the same subject, was used to provide controls as well as ultrasound counts of developing follicles (AFC) in the ovaries as a further measure of ovarian reserve.

“Biologically relevant” AMH levels were successfully detected in hair samples, and levels decreased as expected with patient age.

As ovarian reserve decreases with age, so does AMH levels. Hair AMH levels were strongly correlated with both serum levels and AFC. In addition, hair examinations have shown that a wide range of AMH levels can be detected in individuals of the same age cohort. This suggests that it is more accurate than a single blood sample.

Hormones accumulate in the hair shaft for months, but serum hormone levels change over hours. “Hair is,” the authors describe. “Serum is a medium that can accumulate biomarkers for several weeks, but serum is an acute matrix that presents only current levels.

Hormone levels in the blood can fluctuate rapidly in response to stimuli, but hormone levels measured in hair represent an accumulation over weeks. Measurements using hair samples are likely to reflect an individual’s average hormone levels. “

Among other benefits of hair testing, the authors note that hormone levels are evaluated non-invasively, reducing test stress and providing a cheaper assay.

Testing can be done without going to the clinic, making this type of testing available to a wider range of women.

“In the end,” explains Swarkar. “Since hair can see long-term accumulation of hormones, this measurement may allow a better understanding of an individual’s hormone levels. The moment of testing.”

To date, AMH has played an important role in reproductive medicine.

Thus, although its role as an indicator of ovarian reserve in predicting response to ovarian stimulation to IVF seems undoubted, its widespread application as an indicator of female fertility in the general population. I had a question.

Commenting on the biology of the trial, Sawarker explains that hormones are incorporated into the hair matrix before the growing hair reaches the skin surface, which allows for a cumulative measurement of hormone levels. ..