Role of Anti-Müllerian Hormone (AMH) in Regulating Hypothalamus-Pituitary Function

Abstract

Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is mainly secreted from the ovary and plays a crucial role in sexual differentiation and gonadal functions. AMH plays its role through the receptor AMHR2, which mediates the active function of AMH for a series of reproductive physiology. Although many studies focused the role of AMH and its receptor in the ovary, emerging evidence indicated that AMHR2 were highly expressed in the hypothalamus and/or the pituitary. GnRH neurons express AMHR2 from early fetal development to adulthood and AMH directly stimulates GnRH neuronal activity and hormone secretion, which mainly happens in mature GnRH cells. Additionally, AMH indirectly stimulates GnRH cells through endothelial cells and specialized hypothalamic glia called tanycytes. In this review, we collected the most recent evidence to illustrate the neuroendocrine role of AMH and how AMH participates in the pathogenesis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)