Objective

To compare serum mullerian inhibiting substance (MIS) levels between white, black and Hispanic women to determine if ovarian aging occurs at a different time course for women of different racial groups.

Design

Longitudinal study of serum MIS levels in women of different race/ethnicity over two different time points.

Setting

Women’s Interagency HIV Study, a multicenter prospective cohort study.

Patient(s)

Serum samples obtained from 809 participants (122 white, 462 black and 225 Hispanic women).

Intervention(s)

Comparison of serum MIS between women of different race/ethnicity at two time points (median age 37.5 years and 43.3 years).

Main Outcome Measure(s)

Variation in MIS by race/ethnicity over time, controlling for age, BMI, HIV status and smoking.

Result(s)

Compared to white women, average MIS values were lower among black (25.2% lower, p=0.037) and Hispanic (24.6% lower, p=0.063) women, adjusting for age, BMI, smoking and HIV status.

Conclusion

There is an independent effect of race/ethnicity on the age-related decline in MIS over time.

Objectives

To compare Müllerian inhibiting substance (MIS) levels in serum obtained during the early follicular phase to those obtained randomly during the menstrual cycle. To determine if HIV infection influences early follicular MIS levels, an early marker of ovarian aging.

Design

A cross-sectional study

Setting

Women’s Interagency HIV Study, a multicenter prospective study

Patients

Serum samples obtained from 263 (187 HIV infected and 76 uninfected) participants of the Women’s Interagency HIV Study who reported menstrual bleeding during the preceding 6 months and who were not taking exogenous hormones.

Interventions

Early follicular (cycle day 2–5) MIS samples were compared with serum samples that had been obtained without regard to menstrual cycle phase. Comparison samples were obtained within 6 weeks prior to and/or within 3 to 6 months after the early follicular samples. Early follicular FSH, estradiol, inhibin B and MIS levels were also compared between the HIV infected and uninfected women.

Main Outcomes

Correlation between early follicular MIS and prior and subsequent samples. Comparison of serum markers of ovarian reserve between HIV positive and negative women.

Results

MIS values from early follicular and other random cycle phases were highly correlated with each other (r>0.93, p<0.0001). In multivariate analysis, increased age and FSH level and lower inhibin B levels were associated with lower MIS level; MIS values did not vary by HIV serostatus.

Conclusions

MIS without regard to cycle phase was similar during early follicular phase and highly correlated with early follicular FSH and inhibin B in women with and without HIV. Measurement of serum MIS offers a simplified method of determining ovarian reserve using specimens obtained without menstrual phase timing. Furthermore, using biologic measures of reproductive aging, we found no evidence that HIV infection influences ovarian aging.