Serum vitamin D and anti- mullerian hormone levels in Iraqi infertile women at Baghdad city

Background: Reproductive failure is a significant public health concern. Although relatively little is known about factors affecting fertility, a growing body of literature suggests that environmental & lifestyle factors play an important role. Recent studies suggest that vitamin D may play a role in human reproduction. Exact mechanisms whereby vitamin D may participate in the regulation of reproductive physiology remains far from clear. Objective: To validate the potential of vitamin D as a biomarker for prediction of female infertility and to study the correlation between vitamin D and Anti- Mullerian hormone. Methods: A case- control study was conducted at Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Al- Nahrain University, Al- Kadhmiya, Baghdad, Iraq from June 2013 till July 2014. Seventy three subjects were enrolled in this study. Thirty five primary infertile women with mean age (25.4± 4.91 years), and thirty eight age- matched apparently healthy women as controls with mean age (27.3±3.72 years). Fasting blood samples were collected in the morning at 8:00 am from all participants. Vitamin D was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography technique and Anti- Mullerian hormone was measured by enzyme- linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Vitamin D levels was significantly decreased in the infertile women group compared with fertile control group (35.38±5.83 ng/ mL) versus (49.99±12.90 ng/ mL) respectively. Vitamin D correlated significantly (r = +0.86; p ≤ 0.05) with anti-mullerian hormone and anti- mullerian hormone shows a significant negative correlation with body mass index (r = -0.78; p ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: A novel relationship was found between circulating Anti- Mullerian hormone and vitamin D in plasma samples of infertile women.