Article nti-Müllerian Hormone: Its Role in Follicular Growth Initiation and Survival and as an Ovarian Reserve

In this paper the role in the ovary of anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), a member of the transforming growth factor- β fam-ily of growth and differentiation factors, is reviewed. AMH has an inhibitory effect on primordial follicle recruitment and may also inhibit follicle-stimulating homone–dependent selec-tion of follicles for dominance. In addition to its functional role in the ovary, AMH in serum is an excellent candidate marker as an indication of the ovarian reserve, not only in infertility clinic patients but also in women during and after cancer treatment. [J Natl Cancer Inst 2005;34:18 – 21] I NTRODUCTION The ovary is a unique organ in the female body. To serve its two major functions, the production of female sex steroid hor-mones and the female gametes, cells in the ovary continuously undergo a developmental program in some respects similar t