Correlations between follicular fluid AMH and IVF/ICSI outcomes among polycystic ovary syndrome women using different controlled hyperstimulation protocols

Abstract

Background Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is a glycoprotein that plays an important role in the regulation of ovarian folliculogenesis. However, the data link between its follicular fluid levels (FF AMH) and the IVF/ICSI outcomes in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) women are limited, contradicted, and mainly obtained from Long-GnRH agonist cycles. Thus, we conducted this study to compare the correlations between the FF AMH levels and the IVF/ICSI outcomes in PCOS women during different controlled hyperstimulation protocols. Methods The current study is a re-analysis of our previous work. The data were adopted from a prospective trial that was conducted on women who were referred to the Assisted Reproductive Unit of Orient Hospital, Damascus, Syrian Arab Republic, from December 2019 to August 2021. A total of 75 PCOS women (Rotterdam criteria) (GnRH agonist group, PCOS-A, n = 53; GnRH antagonist group, PCOS-Anta, n = 22) were included. Follicular fluid samples were collected on the retrieval day, and the FF AMH levels were measured using ELISA Kits. In addition, the embryological and clinical IVF/ICSI outcomes were detected. Spearman rank correlation coefficients were computed to assess the correlations among the studied parameters. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) was used to evaluate the accuracy of FF AMH levels in predicting pregnancy rates. Results The patients’ baseline characteristics were comparable between the PCOSA and the PCOSAnta groups. FF AMH levels were negatively correlated with the total FSH dose, the number of retrieved, MII, MI, germinal vesicle, immature, and fertilized oocytes, and with the number of obtained embryos in the PCOSA group, but not in the PCOSAnta one. Nevertheless, there were not any correlations between FF AMH levels and the rates of oocyte maturation or fertilization, or with the highquality embryo rate, embryos cleavage rate or implantation rate in any of the studied groups. In addition, no significant differences were noted in FF AMH levels between pregnant and non-pregnant women in any of the studied groups, which also was confirmed by the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) Curve analysis. Discussion Since the FF AMH levels do not correlate with the maturation rate, fertilization rate, or embryos cleavage rate, the negative correlations in the PCOSA group arise from the negative impacts of the FF AMH on the number of retrieved oocytes. During the long agonist protocol, since PCOS follicles have good follicular angiogenesis, the number of retrieved oocytes would mostly depend on the negative effects of the FF AMH on folliculogenesis. However, during the GnRH antagonist protocol, the limited angiogenesis acts together with the high levels of FF AMH to reduce the number of retrieved oocytes. Conclusions High FF AMH negatively affects ovarian folliculogenesis during both; the long GnRH agonist protocol and the flexible GnRH antagonist one. However, the different patterns of follicular angiogenesis during the two protocols would affect the dependency of the oocytes' yield on the follicular fluid levels of AMH. Study registration: The data were adopted from a prospective clinical trial that was registered on the clinicaltrials.gov site by registration numbers NCT04727671.

Follicular Fluid: A Powerful Tool for the Understanding and Diagnosis of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

“…High levels of AMH in the FF inhibit ovarian folliculogenesis during various protocols regarding different GnRH agonist concentrations. The different patterns of follicular angiogenesis, on the other hand, affect the dependence of oocyte yield on AMH FF levels [ 250 ].…”