Serum anti-müllerian hormone concentrations in prepubertal girls with and without premature adrenarche: The influence of body mass index.

BACKGROUND

A connection between premature adrenarche (PA) and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) has been proposed. We investigated whether anti-müllerian hormone (AMH) production is increased in prepubertal girls with PA, as it is in women with PCOS and in their prepubertal daughters.

METHODS

Fifty-two prepubertal girls with PA and 48 prepubertal age-matched controls were studied. Serum AMH concentrations were determined by a specific ELISA assay and correlated with baseline steroid hormone, GnRH-stimulated LH and FSH, and glucose and insulin concentrations during an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).

RESULTS

Girls with PA had lower serum AMH concentrations than their controls (2.65 vs. 3.43 ng/ml, p = 0.035). This difference between the study groups vanished when adjusted for BMI SDS score (SDS) or body fat percentage. In the entire cohort, serum AMH concentration was negatively correlated with BMI SDS (r = -0.23, p = 0.019) and androstenedione (r = -0.22, p = 0.03), but not with age, GnRH-stimulated LH or FSH, baseline or OGTT insulin concentrations. Within the control group only, there was an inverse relationship of serum AMH with DHEAS (r = -0.32, p = 0.028) concentrations.

CONCLUSIONS

Unlike prepubertal daughters of PCOS women, PA girls do not have abnormalities in serum AMH concentrations at prepubertal age.