Anti-müllerian hormone in children with androgen insensitivity.

Abstract

Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), also called Müllerian inhibiting substance or factor, is secreted in high amounts by the immature Sertoli cell; it is negatively regulated by testosterone at puberty. In the present study, we measured serum AMH in 20 patients with defects of androgen synthesis or action: 9 with complete androgen insensitivity syndrome, 9 with a partial form, 1 patient with 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase deficiency, and 1 with Leydig cell agenesis. AMH was also determined in 15 control patients with idiopathic male pseudohermaphroditism. The serum AMH concentration was elevated in all testosterone-insensitive or -deficient patients compared with control levels during the first year of life. From 1 yr of age to the onset of puberty, serum AMH levels in patients with androgen insensitivity returned to normal values, but after pubertal development began, AMH levels again rose to extremely high levels in the complete androgen insensitivity syndrome. These results suggest that AMH is negatively regulated by testosterone not only at puberty, but also during the postnatal period. An elevation of serum AMH appears to be an interesting marker of androgen resistance or defect of androgen production in sexually ambiguous male infants.