Evaluation of prepubertal testicular function by means of anti-Müllerian hormone determination.

REY, R.; BEDECARRAS,P.; GOTTLIEB, S.

Andrology in the 21st. Century

Medimond Publishing Co

Lugar: Englewood; Año: 2001; p. 131 - 138

Between birth and the onset of puberty, Sertoli, germ and peritubular cells divide actively, and Sertoli cells secrete inhibin B and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH). Multiplication of Sertoli cells during prepuberty is essential for quantitatively normal sperm production in adulthood. Serum AMH is a reliable marker of the number of functional Sertoli cells present in the gonad in prepuberty. Serum AMH assay is useful to detect the existence of cryptorchid testes in patients with nonpalpable gonads, with no need for an hCG test. Declining AMH levels during puberty are indicative of increased intratesticular androgen concentration and presence of meiotic germ cells. Assay of serum AMH also proves useful in the assessment of treatment of patients with precocious puberty or hypogonadotropic hypogonadism. Finally, seminal AMH may represent a non-invasive marker of persistent hypospermatogenesis in cases of non-obstructive azoospermia.