Relationship between obesity and anti-Müllerian hormone in reproductive-aged African American women

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether there is an association between obesity and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) among reproductive-aged African American women (AAW).

Methods: From the women participating in an ongoing National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences study, 1,654 AAW aged 23 to 35 were included in this study. Anthropometric measurements, personal health information, and serum AMH and adipokine levels were analyzed.

Results: The median body mass index (BMI) was 32.4 kg/m² , and the median AMH was 3.18 ng/mL. Participants with obesity had AMH concentrations that were 23.7% lower than those with a BMI ≤25 kg/m² (2.9 ng/mL vs. 3.8 ng/mL). In multivariable linear regression models, current BMI (β = -0.015; 95% CI -0.021 to -0.009), BMI at age 18 (β = -0.016; 95% CI -0.024 to -0.008), heaviest reported lifetime weight (β = -0.002; 95% CI -0.003 to -0.001), and leptin (β = -0.016; 95% CI -0.025 to -0.007) were inversely associated with AMH. There was no significant association between adiponectin and AMH. AMH was significantly lower (mean log = 0.91, SE = 0.11) in participants with obesity at age 18 and at enrollment when compared with those who were underweight or normal weight at age 18 but had obesity at enrollment (mean log = 1.16, SE = 0.12).

Conclusions: In reproductive-aged AAW there is a significant association between obesity and AMH, suggesting that excess adiposity may compromise ovarian reserve. Effects of obesity on AMH may be cumulative.

Figure 1

Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) by body mass index (BMI) (n=1642; excludes 3 participants that had AMH concentrations below the limit of detection of the assay)