Follicular and endocrine dose responses according to anti-Müllerian hormone levels in IVF patients treated with a novel human recombinant FSH (FE 999049)

Abstract

Objective: To study the association between serum anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) levels and follicular development and endocrine responses induced by increasing doses (5.2-12.1 mu g/day) of a novel recombinant human FSH (rhFSH, FE 999049) in patients undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in a GnRH antagonist protocol. Design: Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial with stratified randomization according to AMH (lower stratum: 5.0-14.9 pmol/l; higher stratum: 15.0-44.9 pmol/l). Patients: Infertile women of good prognosis (n = 265). Measurements: Follicular development and endocrine parameters during controlled ovarian stimulation (COS) with rhFSH. Results: Serum FSH levels increased with increasing rhFSH doses and steady-state levels for each dose were similar in both AMH strata. In the whole study population, significant (P = 12 mm, and serum levels of oestradiol, inhibin B, inhibin A and progesterone at end of stimulation. In comparison with the higher AMH stratum, patients in the lower AMH stratum had significantly different slopes of the dose-response curves for these hormones, and no clear dose-related increase was observed for the number of follicles in these patients. Conclusions: Dose-response relationships between rhFSH and follicular development and endocrine parameters are significantly different for IVF/ICSI patients with lower and higher serum AMH levels at start of COS