Circulating Anti-Müllerian hormone in a cohort-study of women with severe obesity with and without polycystic ovary syndrome and the effect of a one-year weight loss intervention

BACKGROUND: Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have high circulating anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) levels which is correlated with antral follicle count and polycystic ovarian morphology and negatively correlated with body mass index (BMI). Moreover, diet-induced weight loss in women with PCOS and overweight or obesity, reduce or normalize AMH-levels. There is, however, no previous study investigating the circulating AMH levels in women with severe obesity and how a structured diet-induced weight loss program affects circulating AMH levels in these women. Therefore, this study aims to investigate circulating AMH levels in a population of women with severe obesity (BMI ≥ 35 kg/m(2)) with and without PCOS, as diagnosed by the NIH-criteria, and to investigate the effect of a one-year weight loss program with a very low-energy diet (VLED) on circulating levels of AMH. METHODS: In a prospective cohort-study, were 246 women with severe obesity were screened for PCOS diagnosis with the NIH-criteria, circulating AMH and anthropometry were measured at baseline and after a 12-month weight loss intervention with very low-energy diet (VLED). RESULTS: Mean BMI was 39.9 ± 4.7 (PCOS), 39.6 ± 4.3 (non-PCOS) P = 0.960. Circulating AMH was higher in women with PCOS (5.47 ± 4.89 µg/L) compared with non-PCOS (2.66 ± 3.71 µg/L) P < 0.001 and was positively correlated with circulating total testosterone in both groups. Next, we performed ROC-analyses, and show that circulating AMH could not discriminate women with PCOS and severe obesity from non-PCOS women with severe obesity. Finally, a one-year weight reduction program does not affect circulating AMH levels despite significant weight loss neither in women with PCOS, nor without PCOS and severe obesity. CONCLUSION: Women with severe obesity and PCOS have elevated levels of circulating AMH compared to women without the syndrome. AMH-levels could not discriminate women with PCOS from non-PCOS because of low sensitivity and specificity. Significant weight loss was not associated with changes in circulating AMH levels, neither in women with, nor without PCOS and severe obesity. These results imply that in women with severe obesity, a greater weight loss may be needed to improve reproductive features, independent of PCOS diagnosis. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Clinical trial.gov: NCT01319162. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12958-022-01022-0.