J Korean Med Sci.  2015 Mar;30(3):296-300. 10.3346/jkms.2015.30.3.296.

Correlation between the Serum Luteinizing Hormone to Folliclestimulating Hormone Ratio and the Anti-Mullerian Hormone Levels in Normo-ovulatory Women

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Korea. yoonprou@dumc.or.kr
  • 2Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Kwandong University, Cheil General Hospital, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

Serum anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) levels are regarded as an age-specific marker for predicting the ovarian reserve in women of reproductive age. Some studies have shown that the luteinizing hormone (LH)/follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) ratio can be used as a predictor of ovarian reserve. The purpose of this study was to assess the variation of LH/FSH ratio with aging and to evaluate the correlation between serum LH/FSH ratio and AMH levels as a predictor of the ovarian reserve in normo-ovulatory women. We retrospectively analyzed the day 3 serum hormone levels in 1,251 patients (age range: 20-50 yr) between January 2010 and January 2011. We divided the patients into 6 groups according to their age. Relation between serum AMH level and LH/FSH ratio was analyzed statistically. The serum AMH level was inversely correlated with age (r = -0.400, P < 0.001). A significant negative correlation was found between serum LH/FSH ratio and age (r = -0.213, P < 0.001). There was a significant partial correlation between serum LH/FSH ratio and AMH level when adjusted by age (r = 0.348, P < 0.001). The LH/FSH ratio could be considered as a useful marker for the ovarian reserve and could be applied to the clinical evaluation with AMH.

Keyword

Anti-Mullerian Hormone; LH/FSH Ratio; Regular Menstruation; Ovarian Reserve

MeSH Terms

Adult
Aging/blood
Anti-Mullerian Hormone/*blood
Female
Follicle Stimulating Hormone/*blood
Humans
Luteinizing Hormone/*blood
Menstruation/blood/physiology
Middle Aged
Ovarian Reserve/*physiology
Ovulation/*blood/physiology
Retrospective Studies
Young Adult
Anti-Mullerian Hormone
Follicle Stimulating Hormone
Luteinizing Hormone

Figure

  • Fig. 1 Distribution of serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) (A), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) (B) and luteinizing hormone (LH)/FSH ratio (C) according to age. (A) Correlation analysis between serum AMH levels and age. The serum AMH levels are inversely correlated with age (r = -0.4, P < 0.001). (B) Correlation analysis between serum FSH levels and age. The serum FSH levels are positively correlated with age (r = 0.282, P < 0.001). (C) Correlation analysis between LH/FSH ratios and age. A significant negative correlation is demonstrated between the serum LH/FSH ratios and age (r = -0.213, P < 0.001).


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