Objective
To generate estimates of the association between markers of ovarian aging and natural fertility in a community sample at risk for ovarian aging.
Methods
Women aged 30–44 years with no history of infertility who had been trying to conceive for less than 3 months provided early-follicular phase serum and urine (N=100). Subsequently, these women kept a diary to record menstrual bleeding and intercourse and conducted standardized pregnancy testing for up to 6 months. Serum was analyzed for estradiol, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), antimüllerian hormone, and inhibin B. Urine was analyzed for FSH and estrone 3-glucuronide (E13G). Diary data on menstrual cycle day and patterns of intercourse were used to calculate day-specific fecundability ratios.
Results
Sixty-three percent of subjects conceived within 6 months. After adjusting for age, 18 women (18%) with serum antimüllerian hormone levels of 0.7 ng/ml or less had significantly reduced fecundability given intercourse on a fertile day compared to women with higher antimüllerian hormone levels (fecundability ratio 0.38, 95% CI:0.08–0.91). The day-specific fecundability for women with early-follicular phase serum FSH values greater than 10 mIU/ml compared to women with lower FSH levels was also reduced, though nonsignificantly (11% of women affected; fecundability ratio 0.44, 95% CI: 0.08, 1.10). The association with urinary FSH was weaker (27% women affected; fecundability ratio 0.61, 95% CI: 0.26, 1.26), and the associations for the other markers were weaker still.
Conclusions
Early-follicular phase antimüllerian hormone appears to be associated with natural fertility in the general population.
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