Low antimüllerian hormone (<1.2 ng/ml) does not impact oocyte quality and IVF/ICSI outcomes in women ≤40 years old

Abstract

Objective: This study retrospectively investigates whether diminished ovarian reserve (DOR), as measured by serum anti-müllerian hormone (AMH), impacts oocyte quality and IVF/ICSI outcomes in the cleavage embryo or blastocyst stage or not. Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 1677 women aged ≤40 years who underwent 1862 IVF/ICSI cycles and divided patients into two groups: low-AMH included the patients with AMH levels <1.2 ng/ml, and normal-AMH included the patients with AMH values ≥1.2 ng/ml. Ovarian stimulation response till fertilization condition and fresh transfer outcomes were compared between the two groups. Results: The cancellation rate was significantly higher in the low-AMH group than in the normal-AMH group (12.6 % vs 2.2 %, p < 0.001). The MII oocyte retrieval and available embryos were significantly higher in the normal-AMH group than in the low-AMH group. There were no significant differences in the implantation rates (IR), miscarriage rate (MR) and live birth rate (LBR) in cleavage embryo transfer (IR:20.90 % vs 21.59 %, p = 0.787; MR:18.8 % vs 22.3 %, p = 0.543; LBR:29.3 % vs 30.9 %, p = 0.686) and blastocyst transfer (IR:43.92 % vs 44.09 %, p = 0.819; MR:6.7 % vs 15.8 %, p = 0.486; LBR:48.1 % vs 45.1 %, p = 0.758) between the two groups. Conclusions: Ovarian reserve, measured by circulating AMH, correlates with cycle cancellation rate and predicts the recovery of oocyte numbers and available embryos after conventional ovarian hyperstimulation but not oocyte quality or IVF/ICSI outcomes in women ≤40 years old. Trial registration: The study protocol was retrospectively registered and was approved by Institutional Review Board of Mackay Memorial Hospital (21MMHIS219e) on August 26, 2021.

Keywords

• Diminished ovarian reserve (DOR)
• Anti-müllerian hormone (AMH)
• Oocyte quality
• Embryo quality
• In vitro fertilisation (IVF)