Abstract
Purpose
Thyroid dysfunction and autoimmune thyroiditis are associated with fertility in women of reproductive age. Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), a known biomarker of ovarian function, may be affected by impaired thyroid function; however, the relationship between AMH and thyroid hormone has not been elucidated.
Methods
In this case–control study, to identify the impact of thyroid hormone on ovarian reserve, we recruited 67 consecutive Japanese infertile patients and 27 normal fertile women aged 30–39 years without impact factors on thyroid and ovarian functions between 2012 and 2013. We assessed patient age, BMI and AMH, prolactin, TSH and FT4 levels of all study participations as independent variables. To evaluate the relationship between AMH and thyroid hormone, we matched patients by age and body mass index as confounding factors using 1:1 matching for statistical analysis of healthy fertile women and infertile patients and obtained 23 pairs. Then, independent variables were subjected to multiple regression analysis.
Results
Multiple regression analysis showed that both thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels and patient age were negatively correlated with AMH levels in infertile patients (patient age and TSH: standardized partial regression coefficient (β), −0.534 and −0.361; p = 0.003 and 0.036, respectively), but not in normal fertile women.
Conclusions
AMH levels were inversely correlated with TSH levels in infertile women of reproductive age.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the women who participated in this study. We would also like to thank Dr. Bee Tan (Clinical Science Research Laboratories, Warwick Medical School) for helpful discussions, Dr. Mitsuyoshi Suzuki and Mrs. Yuka Honda (Juntendo University) for patient selection and Drs. Mari Kitade, Jun Kumakiri and Makoto Jinushi (Juntendo University) for support in the fertility outpatient clinic.
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All authors have nothing to disclose competing interests exist.
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Keiji Kuroda and Toyoyoshi Uchida contributed equally to this work.
Capsule: Serum anti-Müllerian hormone levels were inversely correlated with thyroid-stimulating hormone levels in infertile women of reproductive age, but not in normal fertile women.
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Kuroda, K., Uchida, T., Nagai, S. et al. Elevated serum thyroid-stimulating hormone is associated with decreased anti-Müllerian hormone in infertile women of reproductive age. J Assist Reprod Genet 32, 243–247 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-014-0397-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-014-0397-7