Two immunoassays for antimullerian hormone measurement: analytical and clinical performances

Abstract

Today, serum antimullerian hormone (AMH) is considered as an interesting marker of fertility potential in women to determine follicular status and in men to evaluate testicular function. We study analytical and clinical characteristics of two AMH commercialized immunoassays: Immunotech and DSL methods. The detection limits (close to 0.13 ng/mL), functional sensitivities (close to 0.30 ng/mL) are equivalent, and imprecision results are acceptable for entirely manual assays. The Immunotech method is linear within the calibration range (up to 21 ng/mL) and the DSL method presents a lack of linearity making it accurate only up to 11 ng/mL (and not up to 14 ng/mL as it is indicated by the manufacturer). The two methods allow to measure human AMH, don't cross react with TGF-beta superfamily proteins and the DSL immunoassay recognize mouse (25%), rat (68%) and calf (100%) AMH. The comparison between the two methods (from 0.3 to 200 ng/mL) shows a good correlation (r = 0.979) with not statistically different results (p = 0.31). From a clinical point of view, the two methods allow the evaluation of follicular status in normo-ovulatory women and in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Results are in agreement with studies showing that AMH serum concentration is strongly correlated with the number of antral follicles. In conclusion, the Immunotech method seems to be more efficient than the DSL method even if the two methods are suitable for clinical applications needing AMH measurements.