Identification of a polycystic ovary syndrome susceptibility variant in fibrillin-3 and association with a metabolic phenotype

Abstract

Context: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), the most common reproductive endocrine disorder of premenopausal women, is also associated with metabolic abnormalities including insulin resistance and an increased risk for diabetes mellitus. We previously mapped a PCOS susceptibility locus to chromosome 19p13.2 near the dinucleotide repeat marker D19S884.

Objective: Our objective is to localize the chromosome 19p13.2 PCOS susceptibility locus and determine its impact on metabolic features of PCOS.

Design: Resequencing and family-based association testing were used to examine the effect of sequence variation within 100 kb of D19S884 on the reproductive and metabolic phenotypes of PCOS.

Setting: The study was conducted in an academic medical center.

Subjects: Genetic analyses were performed on DNA obtained from1723 individuals in 412 families with 412 index cases and 43 affected sisters of predominantly European origin (>94%). Genotype-phenotype associations were assessed in 601 women with PCOS and 168 brothers of affected women.

Results: D19S884 allele 8 (A8) within intron 55 of the fibrillin-3 (FBN3) gene showed the strongest evidence for association with PCOS of 53 variants tested (P(corrected) = 0.0037). A8 was also associated with higher levels of fasting insulin and homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance in women with PCOS and higher fasting levels of proinsulin and proinsulin/insulin ratio in brothers.

Conclusions: These findings strongly suggest that A8 of D19S884 is the chromosome 19p13.2 PCOS susceptibility locus. The association of D19S884 with markers of insulin resistance and pancreatic beta-cell dysfunction suggests that the same variant contributes to the reproductive and metabolic abnormalities of PCOS in affected women and their brothers.