Anti-Müllerian hormone as a predictive endocrine marker for embryo production in the goat

Abstract

Recently, we demonstrated the relationship between anti-Mü llerian hormone (AMH) circulating concentrations, ovarian follicles, and embryo production in cattle. However, they have not yet been established in a species with a seasonal breeding activity. Thus, goats were subjected to repeated in vivo embryo production during the breeding season, at the end of the breeding season, and at the end of the anestrus season. Embryo production after FSH treatment was highly repeatable for each goat. Plasma AMH concentrations, measured before the first FSH treatment, were highly correlated with the number of collected, transferable, and freezable embryos, resulting from the three sessions of embryo production. Plasma AMH concentrations transiently decreased after each exogenous FSH treatment, but they showed little change with season, and no relationship was observed between AMH and endogenous FSH concentrations during seasonal transitions. Follicles of 1-5 mm in diameter were the main target of the FSH treatment and were major contributors to circulating AMH concentrations. Granulosa cell AMH expression decreased as the follicle approached terminal development, while the expression of maturation markers (CYP19A1 and FSHR) increased. In conclusion, circulating AMH concentrations can be predictive of the capacity of a donor goat to produce high or low numbers of high-quality embryos. This prediction could be accurately made from a single blood measurement of AMH during either breeding or anestrus seasons. Variability in the number of gonadotropin-responsive follicles of 1-5 mm in diameter between individuals resulted in the differences in circulating AMH concentrations measured between individuals.

Postnatal pituitary and follicular activation: a revisited hypothesis in a sheep model

“…Therefore, the response to FSH stimulation may slightly vary according to the phase of the follicular wave during which the gonadotropin stimulation occurs. However, AMH concentrations remain relatively constant along the whole cycle because there is a continuous growth of small follicles (La Marca et al 2007) following a specific profile during the estrous cycle which occurs independently of the follicular waves (Rico et al 2011); exhibit very little changes with season in seasonal breeding animals (goat, Monniaux et al 2011), and arepositively correlated to ovarian response to exogenous stimulation (TorresRovira et al 2014). Thus, we believe that the differences seen in the basal concentrations of AMH on Day 0 between the high and low AFC groups support the existence of the differences seen between both groups at 16.5 months in the EFORT response despite the nonsynchronization of the follicular wave.…”

Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH) and fertility management in agricultural species

“…In addition, AMH concentrations before treatment were predictive of the response to superovulation in sheep (Lahoz et al 2014), goats (Monniaux et al 2011) and mares (Claes & Ball 2016). These findings confirm the positive association between the response to superovulation and the ovarian reserve and support the use of AMH assessment to select donors for embryo production.…”

Positive correlations of age and parity with plasma anti-Müllerian hormone concentrations in Japanese Black cows

“…In contrast, information on the relationship between age and plasma AMH concentration in adult female ruminants is lacking, although one study [6] found a positive correlation between pregnancy rate and plasma AMH concentration in dairy cows. Furthermore, the concentration of circulating AMH can predict the number of high-quality embryos produced by a donor goat or cow [7, 8]. These data suggest that there must be an optimal blood AMH concentration for proper reproductive function in ruminants.…”