Alterations of ovarian reserve tests in Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-infected women

Objectives. - Little is known about the impact of highly active antiretroviral therapy or HIV infection itself on the ovarian function. The aim of this study was to evaluate ovarian function in HIV-infected women in comparison with normal values from non-HIV infected women. Patients and methods. - This is a prospective pilot study using markers of ovarian function: the antral follicular count (AFC) defined between cycle days 7 and 10 and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), inhibin B and antimullerian hormone (AMH) for early follicular phase hormonal assessments. A descriptive analysis according to age was performed. Results. - Results from 78 HIV positive women are presented. AFC shows a high rate of abnormal values (63 %) occurring surprisingly early. The hormonal markers are concordant with a 36, 57 and 23 % abnormal rate for FSH, inhibin B and AMH respectively. Discussion and conclusion. - In our series, HIV seropositivity was associated with stigmas of premature ovarian insufficiency. This may explain impaired fertility but also suggests premature menopause in this population that should therefore be monitored early for such changes. (C) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.