When assessing a woman’s egg reserve, the anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) is proven to produce the most reliable pathology results.

Often called the “egg-timer”, AMH measures the concentrations of anti-Mullerian, a hormone that is produced by cells in women’s ovaries.

AMH controls the development of follicles in the ovaries, from which eggs develop. AMH’s role in the ovary is to limit the progression of all but a very few of the eggs to the final stage, preparatory to ovulation.

AMH is produced by the granulosa cells surrounding each of the eggs with serum levels correlating with the total number of viable eggs.

As would be expected, the AMH level falls with age and after 35 this tends to be rapid in most women. A test result of below 11 pmol/L is indicative of a poor egg reserve.

AMH has other uses which include:

• Confirmation of menopause.
• Followup of PCOS. 
• Women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome have high levels of AMH 
  (> 24pmol/L) which should drop with appropriate treatment.
• Identification of women with Ovarian Hyper-stimulation syndrome.  
  Again levels of oestrogen and AMH are very high.
• Granulosa cell tumour marker.

Testing can be done at any time of day or time of cycle. This is because AMH tends not to fluctuate significantly with the time of menstrual cycle. 

Oral contraceptives may affect the test result.

High intake of biotin (Vitamin B7) may interfere with the AMH test and produce a falsely low results.

If your patient is on supplements containing large doses of biotin please advice her to refrain from taking it for 24 hours prior to blood collection.

Cost
The cost of the test is $95
Not eligible for Medicare rebate

Dr Devika Thomas

BSc (Hons), MBBS, M Surg, MAACB, CCD, FRCPA, PhD
Medical Director
Director of Chemical Pathology