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Review
. 2016:2016:20.
doi: 10.1186/s13633-016-0038-2. Epub 2016 Oct 28.

Anti-Müllerian hormone as a marker of steroid and gonadotropin action in the testis of children and adolescents with disorders of the gonadal axis

Affiliations
Review

Anti-Müllerian hormone as a marker of steroid and gonadotropin action in the testis of children and adolescents with disorders of the gonadal axis

Nadia Y Edelsztein et al. Int J Pediatr Endocrinol. 2016.

Abstract

In pediatric patients, basal testosterone and gonadotropin levels may be uninformative in the assessment of testicular function. Measurement of serum anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) has become increasingly widespread since it provides information about the activity of the male gonad without the need for dynamic tests, and also reflects the action of FSH and androgens within the testis. AMH is secreted in high amounts by Sertoli cells from fetal life until the onset of puberty. Basal AMH expression is not dependent on gonadotropins or sex steroids; however, FSH further increases and testosterone inhibits AMH production. During puberty, testosterone induces Sertoli cell maturation, and prevails over FSH on AMH regulation. Therefore, AMH production decreases. Serum AMH is undetectable in patients with congenital or acquired anorchidism, or with complete gonadal dysgenesis. Low circulating levels of AMH may reflect primary testicular dysfunction, e.g. in certain patients with cryptorchidism, monorchidism, partial gonadal dysgenesis, or central hypogonadism. AMH is low in boys with precocious puberty, but it increases to prepubertal levels after successful treatment. Conversely, serum AMH remains at high, prepubertal levels in boys with constitutional delay of puberty. Serum AMH measurements are useful, together with testosterone determination, in the diagnosis of patients with ambiguous genitalia: both are low in patients with gonadal dysgenesis, including ovotesticular disorders of sex development, testosterone is low but AMH is in the normal male range or higher in patients with disorders of androgen synthesis, and both hormones are normal or high in patients with androgen insensitivity. Finally, elevation of serum AMH above normal male prepubertal levels may be indicative of rare cases of sex-cord stromal tumors or Sertoli cell-limited disturbance in the McCune Albright syndrome.

Keywords: Cryptorchidism; Disorders of sex development; Puberty; Sertoli; Testis.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Developmental physiology of the testis in postnatal life. a: Testicular volume increases slightly during infancy and childhood (from birth to the age of 8–10 yr), as measured by ultrasonography, mainly due to the increase of the Sertoli cell population. After pubertal onset, clinically defined by a testicular volume of 4 ml as measured by comparison with the orchidometer, testicular volume increases drastically due to the onset of pubertal spermatogenesis, which requires androgen-dependent Sertoli cell maturation. b: Schematic serum levels of gonadotropins (FSH and LH), testosterone (T), inhibin B (Inh B) and AMH from birth through adulthood (left axis) and percentage of Sertoli cells expressing the androgen receptor (AR, right axis). Reprinted, with permission, from Rey et al. [85], copyright 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
AMH as a marker of FSH action in the prepubertal testis. FSH provokes Sertoli cell proliferation and increases AMH transcription in each Sertoli cell through the classical FSH receptor (FSH-R) transduction pathway involving Gsα protein, adenylyl cyclase (AC) and stimulation of protein kinase A (PKA) activity, leading to an increased AMH promoter activity induced by transcription factors SOX9, SF1, GATA4, NFκB and AP2
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Regulation of testicular AMH production by FSH and testosterone in normal and pathological conditions. Basal AMH production is independent of gonadotropins or androgens; however, FSH stimulates and testosterone inhibits AMH expression. In the fetal period and during the first months of postnatal life (I), the hypothalamic-gonadotrope is active: FSH stimulates AMH production, whereas testosterone cannot inhibit it because Sertoli cells do not yet express the androgen receptor. During childhood, and in boys >14 years-old with constitutional delay of puberty (II), the hypothalamic-gonadotrope is “quiescent”, resulting in little or no effect on basal AMH production. In boys with normal or precocious puberty (III) with high intratesticular androgen concentrations (central precocious puberty, testotoxicosis, Leydig cell tumors), testosterone inhibition overrides FSH stimulation, resulting in a decrease in serum AMH. In patients with central hypogonadism (IV), only basal AMH production is observed, with no further stimulation or inhibition. In patients with disorders of sex development due to androgen synthesis defects (V) or androgen insensitivity (VI), the positive effect of FSH cannot be antagonized by testosterone, resulting in high AMH production in infancy and pubertal age. AR: androgen receptor; CAIS: complete androgen insensitivity syndrome; CDP: constitutional delay of puberty; FSH-R: FSH receptor; LH-R: LH receptor; T: testosterone
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Serum AMH as a marker of increased intratesticular androgen activity in patients with precocious puberty. AMH levels at diagnosis, during and after treatment in six patients with central precocious puberty. Each color line represents a different patient. Serum AMH is low for age in four of the boys with precocious puberty, indicating that there is a high intratesticular testosterone concentration that inhibits AMH expression. When testosterone production is curtailed by treatment with a GnRH analogue, serum AMH recovers prepubertal levels until treatment is withdrawn. In the remaining two cases (arrows), diagnosed before the age of 1 year, the explanation for normal prepubertal AMH levels at diagnosis, indicating a lack of AMH expression in spite of high androgen levels, is that Sertoli cells do not yet express the androgen receptor at that age. The shaded areas represent normal reference AMH levels for age. Reprinted, with modifications, from: Copyright 2013 R.P. Grinspon et al [18]

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