An observational study in Aging, sponsored by Insel Gruppe AG, University Hospital Bern. Completed at 1 site in Switzerland. Open to female participants aged 35 Years to 45 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-10-28.
Sponsored by Insel Gruppe AG, University Hospital Bern · Observational
This study aims to assess the association between aging and serum anti-müllerian hormone.
As life expectancy is increasing and has significant effects on health, economy and other aspects, the need for an Active and Healthy ageing (AHA) strategy becomes more important. Although ageing is often defined by chronological age (CA), it is significantly influenced by other factors such as psychological, social and mental-emotional factors. To evaluate these influences, the bio-functional status (BFS) was created which consists of 45 non-invasive assessments of different categories and reflects a normal middle-European population. By means of BFS the bio-functional age (BFA) can be calculated, revealing individual strengths and resources for healthy ageing as well as potential health risks.
In women ageing leads to a depletion of the ovarian reserves and change of sex hormone levels introducing menopause. Age at menopause is associated with several health issues. Women with premature (age ≤40) or early menopause (age ≤45) are not only considered to have higher risk for osteoporosis but also cardiovascular diseases and cognitive disorders such as dementia. Late menopause (age ≥55) increases the risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Timely preventative measures might limit these risks. For example, hormone replacement therapy has shown to reduce later development of issues associated with premature or early menopause.
The difficulty lies in the variability of age at menopause between 40 and 60 years. In order to take appropriate preventative measures, the age of menopause has to be predicted individually for every woman. This requires a reliable predictive marker for menopause. In studies serum anti-müllerian hormone (AMH) was described as a potential predictor.
AMH is synthetized in granulosa cells of the follicles and reduces the effects of the follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) on said cells preventing further recruitment of follicles. Hence, AMH is associated with the functional ovarian reserve and declines with age. It is mainly used for detection of reproductive age in women and might be a reliable predictive marker for menopause.
Using the epiAge-test the epigenetic age, also called the biological age, can be calculated. The epiAge-Test was created by Prof. Dr. Moshe Szyf based on the research of Steve Horvath's epigenetic clock. Horvath discovered that DNA methylation can be directly associated with ageing. The methylation occurs on cytosine nucleotides followed by guanine nucleotides creating so called CpG-islands. Taking mathematical and statistical analyses into account, Horvath identified 353 CpG-islands which were consistently altered with age. Szyf further developed Horvath's calculator and created the epiAge-test using 13 CpG-islands that show the highest correlation with ageing to calculate the epigenetic age.
Accordingly, age(ing) can be operationalized in different ways: chronological age (CA) based on birth certificate, subjective age (SA) based on the individual's self-perceived age, externally estimated age (EA) based on the age estimation of two unrelated people, bio-functional age (BFA) based on a 4-dimension validated test-battery, epigenetic age (epiAge) based on DNA methylation increasingly modified with ageing, and serum AMH reflecting a woman's reproductive age.
Insel Gruppe AG, University Hospital Bern is the lead sponsor of 724 studies on the registry; 177 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Patients of the Dep. of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Bern University Hospital, Switzerland as well as women contacted by advertisement are eligible for the study.
Exclusion Criteria:
Assessing the chronological age
Evaluated by birthdate of participant
Time frame: At baseline, once per participant
Serum anti-müllerian hormone (AMH)
A venous blood sample is taken to evaluate the serum AMH level.
Time frame: At baseline, once per participant
Serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)
A venous blood sample is taken to evaluate the serum FSH level.
Time frame: At baseline, once per participant
Serum estradiol (E2)
A venous blood sample is taken to evaluate the serum E2 level.
Time frame: At baseline, once per participant
Subjective age
Participants will be asked how old they actually feel.
Time frame: At baseline, once per participant
Externally estimated age
Two nurses who don't know the participant or their chronological age will be asked to externally estimate the participant's age. For data analysis, the average of these two estimates will be used.
Time frame: At baseline, once per participant
Bio-functional age (BFA)
To evaluate the bio-functional age, a bio-functional status (BFS) is taken. The BFS consists of 45 separate tests and evaluates physical, physiological, psychomotor, cognitive, mental, and social-emotional factors.
Time frame: At baseline, once per participant
Epigenetic age
A saliva sample will be taken to evaluate the epigenetic age. The epigenetic age is evaluated by examining DNA methylation. No genetic data is collected.
Time frame: At baseline, once per participant
Plan to share: No
This study is completed, as verified in Oct 2024. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
Insel Gruppe AG, University Hospital Bern