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Anti-Müllerian Hormone Is an Endocrine Marker of Ovarian Gonadotropin-Responsive Follicles and Can Help to Predict Superovulatory Responses in the Cow¹

Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, UMR 6175 INRA-CNRS-Université de Tours-Haras Nationaux,³ and Unité Expérimentale de Physiologie Animale de l‘Orfrasiére,⁴ Centre INRA de Tours, 37380 Nouzilly, France Centre de Recherche INRIA Paris-Rocquencourt,⁵ Domaine de Voluceau, 78153 Le Chesnay, France Endocrinologie et Génétique de la Reproduction et du Développement,⁶ Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, U782, Université Paris-Sud, UMR-S0782, F-92140 Clamart, France Laboratory of Endocrinology and Animal Reproduction,⁷ Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Liege, B-4000 Liege, Belgium

ABSTRACT

The major limitation to the development of embryo production in cattle is the strong between-animal variability in ovulatory response to FSH-induced superovulation, mainly due to differences in ovarian activity at the time of treatment. This study aimed to establish whether anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) was an endocrine marker of follicular populations in the cow, as in human, and a possible predictor of the ovarian response to superovulation. Anti-Müllerian hormone concentrations in plasma varied 10-fold between cows before treatment and were found to be highly correlated with the numbers of 3- to 7-mm antral follicles detected by ovarian ultrasonography before treatment (r = 0.79, P < 0.001) and the numbers of ovulations after treatment (r = 0.64, P < 0.01). Between-animal differences in AMH concentrations were found to be unchanged after a 3-mo delay (r = 0.87, P < 0.01), indicating that AMH endocrine levels were characteristic of each animal on a long-term period. The population of healthy 3- to 7-mm follicles was the main target of superovulatory treatments, contained the highest AMH concentrations and AMH mRNA levels compared with larger follicles, and contributed importantly to AMH endocrine levels. In conclusion, AMH was found to be a reliable endocrine marker of the population of small antral gonadotropin-responsive follicles in the cow. Moreover, AMH concentrations in the plasma of individuals were indicative of their ability to respond to superovulatory treatments.

AMH, assisted reproductive technology, follicular development, granulosa cells, ovary

¹Supported by the special funding "Crédits fléchés" of the INRA PHASE Department. C.R. was supported by a French fellowship from the "Région Centre."

Correspondence: ²Danielle Monniaux, Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, UMR 6175 INRA-CNRS-Université de Tours-Haras Nationaux, Centre INRA de Tours, 37380 Nouzilly, France. FAX: 33 47 42 7743; e-mail: monniaux{at}tours.inra.fr