Homepage  /  IVF News

Hopes for PCOS cure as scientists reveal cause in mice

Dr Elizabeth Oliver

Progress Educational Trust

21 May 2018

| | | |
[BioNews, London]

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may be due to a hormone imbalance before birth, research has revealed. 

The disease may be triggered before birth by excessive exposure to anti-Mϋllerian hormone (AMH) in the womb, researchers found. They were then able to counter the symptoms of the syndrome in mice. A clinical trial to see if the treatment works in women will begin later this year.

In the study in Nature Medicine, Dr Paolo Giacobini at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm), and his team discovered that pregnant women with PCOS have 30 percent higher levels of AMH than usual. As the disease can be hereditary, the researchers then investigated whether the high levels of hormone could induce the same condition in female offspring.

To do this, scientists injected AMH into pregnant mice and found that their offspring developed symptoms which mirrored those observed in women with PCOS, including infrequent ovulation and delays in becoming pregnant. The authors surmised that the excess hormone resulted in overstimulation of a subset of neurons leading to increased levels of testosterone. 

Using the IVF drug cetrorelix to control hormone levels, the researchers were able to reverse the induced symptoms of PCOS in mice. By the end of the year, the team hopes to trial cetrorelix for women with PCOS.

'It could be an attractive strategy to restore ovulation and eventually increase the pregnancy rate in these women,' said Dr Giacobini.

PCOS is estimated to affect between 8 and 20 percent of women. Symptoms of the condition include high levels of testosterone resulting in excessive hair growth and acne, and irregular periods often leading to difficulties conceiving. Despite being a common disorder, the underlying cause has been poorly understood. 

'It's by far the most common hormonal condition affecting women of reproductive age, but it hasn't received a lot of attention,' Professor Robert Norman of the University of Adelaide in Australia, who was not involved in the study, told New Scientist.

The study presents 'a radical new way of thinking about polycystic ovary syndrome and opens up a whole range of opportunities for further investigation', he concluded.

SOURCES & REFERENCES

Cause of polycystic ovary syndrome discovered at last
New Scientist |  14 May 2018
Elevated prenatal anti-Müllerian hormone reprograms the fetus and induces polycystic ovary syndrome in adulthood
Nature Medicine |  14 May 2018
Polycystic ovary syndrome: Scientists closer to understanding cause
BBC News |  15 May 2018
What causes PCOS? Scientists may have finally found an answer
Newsweek |  15 May 2018



© Copyright Progress Educational Trust

Reproduced with permission from BioNews, an email and online sources of news, information and comment on assisted reproduction and genetics.

Share IVF News on FaceBook   Share IVF News on Twitter

1364


Add to Favorites | Reply to Ad | Tell Your Friends
Date Added: 21 May 2018   Date Updated: 21 May 2018
Customer Reviews (0)
write a review
(No reviews found. You may write the first one!)


Join Our Newsletter - Don't Miss Anything!!!

Stay in touch with the latest news by subscribing to our regular email newsletters