The Stability of the Anti-Müllerian Hormone in Serum and Plasma Samples under Various Preanalytical Conditions

Radana Vrzáková; Václav Šimánek; Ondřej Topolčan; Vladimír Vurm; David Slouka; Radek Kučera

doi:10.3390/diagnostics13081501

The Stability of the Anti-Müllerian Hormone in Serum and Plasma Samples under Various Preanalytical Conditions

Diagnostics (Basel). 2023 Apr 21;13(8):1501. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics13081501.

Authors

Radana Vrzáková¹, Václav Šimánek², Ondřej Topolčan², Vladimír Vurm², David Slouka³, Radek Kučera^{2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Charles University, 32300 Pilsen, Czech Republic.
² Department of Immunochemistry, University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Charles University, 32300 Pilsen, Czech Republic.
³ Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Charles University, 30955 Pilsen, Czech Republic.
⁴ Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Charles University, 32300 Pilsen, Czech Republic.

Abstract

The anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is a glycoprotein that plays an important role in prenatal sex differentiation. It is used as a biomarker in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) diagnostics, as well as for estimating an individual's ovarian reserve and the ovarian response to hormonal stimulation during in vitro fertilization (IVF). The aim of this study was to test the stability of AMH during various preanalytical conditions that are in accordance with the ISBER (International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories) protocol. Plasma and serum samples were taken from each of the 26 participants. The samples were then processed according to the ISBER protocol. AMH levels were measured in all the samples simultaneously using the chemiluminescent kit ACCESS AMH in a UniCel^® DxI 800 Immunoassay System (Beckman Coulter, Brea, CA, USA). The study proved that AMH retains a relatively high degree of stability during repeated freezing and thawing in serum. AMH was shown to be less stable in plasma samples. Room temperature proved to be the least suitable condition for the storage of samples before performing the biomarker analysis. During the testing of storage stability at 5-7 °C, the values decreased over time for all the plasma samples but remained stable in the serum samples. We proved that AMH is highly stable under various stress conditions. The anti-Müllerian hormone retained the greatest stability in the serum samples.

Keywords: anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH); plasma; preanalytical conditions; serum; stability.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the Ministry of Health, Czech Republic—conceptual development of research organization (Faculty Hospital in Pilsen—FNPl, 00669806), BBMRI-CZ: Biobank network—a versatile platform for the research of the etiopathogenesis of diseases CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_013/000167 and LM2015089, and by the Cooperation Program, research area Pharmaceutical Sciences.