AMH stands for anti-Müllerian hormone. A woman’s AMH levels can be easily measured using a blood test.
AMH is important during the development of male foetuses for preventing a female-type reproductive tract from forming. In females, AMH is produced by ovarian follicular cells of particular stages of follicular development known as the preantral and small antral follicle stages (less than 8 mm). Therefore, the higher the number of preantral and small antral follicles there are in the ovary, the higher AMH levels will be. Because the numbers of preantral and antral follicles tend to reflect the overall number of follicles present in the ovary, AMH provides an indirect measure of the total pool of follicles and hence of eggs. This is not always the case, however, as some women have a smaller than expected pool of preantral and small antral follicle stages in comparison to their total follicular pool.