Association of the functional ovarian reserve with serum metabolomic profiling by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy: a cross-sectional study of ~ 400 women

BACKGROUND: Women with diminished ovarian reserve are known to have increased cardiovascular risk, whether there is a continuous association between the ovarian reserve biomarkers; anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), antral follicle count (AFC) and cardio-metabolic risk factors are unknown. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 398 women intending to undergo IVF with pre-treatment early follicular AMH and AFC measurements. Serum lipids, lipoprotein subclasses and low-molecular-weight metabolites were quantified by NMR spectroscopy (155 metabolic measures). Associations were analysed using multivariable regression. RESULTS: Participants were mean 35.5 (SD 4.43) years old and had a median AMH of 16 pmol/l (IQR 8.8, 28.0 pmol/l) and a median AFC of 12 (IQR 7.16). AMH showed positive associations with HDL, omega-6 and polyunsaturated fatty acids and the amino acids isoleucine, leucine and tyrosine, with effects ranging from 0.11 (95%CI 0.004 to 0.21) for total lipids in small HDL to 0.16 (0.06 to 0.26) for isoleucine, for a mean difference of one SD of metabolite per one SD increment in AMH, and negatively with acetate: − 0.31(− 0.22, − 0.004) SD per 1 SD AMH. AFC was positively associated with alanine, glutamine and glycine. Results were consistent, though less precisely estimated, when restricted to those women who were preparing for treatment because of their partner’s infertility. CONCLUSIONS: In women intending to have IVF, AMH and AFC were not associated with traditional lipid measured but were associated with a number of novel cardiovascular risk factors. Prospective studies will be required for replication, determination of causality and confirmation that ovarian reserve is impacting on metabolism rather than variation in metabolism is influencing ovarian reserve.