To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: Gene Variation Hinders Response to Infertility Treatment in Women With PCOS URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/21EDDA.htm Doctor's Guide March 28, 2008
NEW YORK -- March 28, 2008 -- Researchers have discovered that women who have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are less likely to ovulate in response to a promising new drug treatment for the condition if they have a variation in serine-threonine kinase (STK) 11. STK11 is involved in controlling haemoglobin levels. Researchers have evaluated metformin as a treatment for PCOS-related infertility. However, the results of these studies were conflicting. "The current study offers a possible explanation for the conflicting results seen by the numerous research teams who studied metformin as a treatment for polycystic ovary syndrome," said Duane Alexander, MD, Director, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. "This finding is the first step in the development of a test that can distinguish women who are likely to benefit from the treatment from those who are not." The study, published online in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, was conducted by a team of researchers from the NICHD Reproductive Medicine Network, who were led by Richard S. Legro, MD, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Penn State University College of Medicine, Hershey, Penn. To conduct the study, Dr. Legro and his coworkers analysed DNA from 312 women who participated in a larger study. That study compared the effectiveness of metformin to the drug clomiphene at helping women with PCOS achieve pregnancy. In the current study, the researchers found that women were less likely to ovulate after receiving metformin if they had a particular variation of the gene for STK11. The women's response to metformin was dependent on how many copies of the variant gene they possessed. Of the possible combinations, women had either 1 variant together with 1 typical copy of the gene, 2 copies of the variant, or 2 typical copies of the gene. Of the women with 1 copy of the variant STK11 gene, 67% ovulated in response to the treatment (32 women out of 48). For women with 2 copies of the variant gene, only 48% ovulated in response to the treatment (10 of 21). Of the women who did not have the variant gene, 79% (15 of 19) ovulated in response to metformin. The researchers also found that women were less likely to ovulate if they had a higher body mass index. Dr. Legro explained that the next step is to conduct a genetic analysis on a large sample of women, to try to find out how frequently the gene variant occurs in the population. Once the researchers find the prevalence of the gene, the next step would be to begin work on a test to distinguish women who would be unlikely to ovulate in response to metformin from those likely to ovulate. SOURCE: National Institutes of Health --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.