Anti-Müllerian hormone in serum and seminal plasma in comparison with other male fertility parameters

Abstract

Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is a factor most associated with female fertility and especially with the ovarian reserve. AMH is also used as a parameter of fertility in men as it arises from the epithelium of the seminiferous tubules that contain Sertoli cells which produce the AMH. To investigate the relationship between AMH production and sperm related parameters we compared the AMH levels in serum and seminal plasma between a group of healthy males (n=65) and male patients (n=68) of infertile couples with semen pathology. We assessed the following fertility parameters: sperm count (SC), presence of intra-acrosomal enzymes (IAE), and antispermatozoal antibodies (ASA). Infertile men were divided into four subgroups according to: SC less than 15 million, SC less than 15 million and lack of IAE, SC less than 15 million and presence of ASA, presence of all three pathological parameters. The mean AMH serum level in the healthy group was 6.95 ng/ml and no significant difference was observed in serum AMH levels. The mean AMH seminal plasma level in the healthy group was 14.21 ng/ml. We observed a statistically significant decrease in the group with a SC with less than 15 million (3.29 ng/ml, p=0.0001) sperm, in the group with SC less than 15 million sperm and lack of IAE (3.95 ng/ml, p=0.0046), and in the group with all three pathological parameters (2.65 ng/ml, p=<0.0001). No significant difference was observed in the group with SC less than 15 million sperm and ASA positivity (11.41 ng/ml, p=0.3171). In conclusion AMH serum levels do not correlate with any of the observed parameters. AMH levels in seminal plasma positively correlate with the pathological SC and with SC pathology and IAE together. ARTICLE HISTORY

Seminal Plasma Anti-Müllerian Hormone: A Potential AI-Boar Fertility Biomarker?

“…The results of this study revealed, for first time, that AMH is present in pig SP, showing average AMH concentration values that were higher than the AMH levels reported in human SP [12,15,18,20]. These results do not come as a surprise when one considers the differences existing in the concentration of other SP-hormones, such as testosterone, between humans and pigs [31,32].…”

“…The results of Experiment 1 evidenced a high variability in SP-AMH concentration among boars, which was not linked to their breed. Similarly, variation in SP-AMH between individuals has also been evidenced in humans [14,19,20,36]. Inter-boar variability in other SP-proteins, including other members of the TGFβ-superfamily, has also been reported [8,9,11], and might have a genetic origin [37].…”

“…It is interesting to note that, after puberty, AMH secretion is higher at the apical pole of the Sertoli cell, towards the lumen of the seminiferous tubules, than basally, towards the interstitium and blood circulation [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. As a result, higher concentrations of this hormone are found in SP in comparison to the serum of males [12,19,20]. This suggests a role of the AMH in spermatogenesis, while indicating that measuring SP-AMH, rather than serum-AMH, is more suitable when investigating the possible relationship between this hormone and sperm function.…”

“…Because protein tyrosine phosphorylation is required for acrosomal membrane exocytosis [41] and, together with evidence of AMH presence on the sperm head, the literature suggests a role for the AMH in preventing the sperm acrosome reaction. Accordingly, low SP-AMH concentration levels are related with a lack of intra-acrosomal enzymes in human sperm [20]. The acrosome status and membrane fluidity of boars with different levels of SP-AMH were assessed in Experiment 2 in order to shed light on the role played by SP-AMH on the pig sperm membrane.…”

“…Specifically, this hormone is expressed in Sertoli cells and it is responsible for the regression of the Müllerian ducts in the male fetus [16]. The AMH has been described and quantified in human SP [12][13][14][15][17][18][19][20]. The presence of this hormone in SP is of interest for the study of male reproduction as it has been suggested to provide information regarding the state of spermatogenesis [21].…”