Public release date: 30-Aug-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Quinn Eastman qeastma@emory.edu 404-727-7829 Emory University

Scientists have established a genetic mouse model for primary ovarian insufficiency (POI), a human condition in which women experience irregular menstrual cycles and reduced fertility, and early exposure to estrogen deficiency.

POI affects approximately one in a hundred women. In most cases of primary ovarian insufficiency, the cause is mysterious, although genetics is known to play a causative role. There are no treatments designed to help preserve fertility. Some women with POI retain some ovarian function and a fraction (5-10 percent) have children after receiving the diagnosis.

Having a mouse model could accelerate research on the causes and mechanisms of POI, and could eventually lead to treatments, says Peng Jin, PhD, associate professor of human genetics at Emory University School of Medicine.

The results were published online recently in the journal Human Molecular Genetics.

The paper was the result of a collaboration between researchers at Emory and the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. Dahua Chen, PhD, associate director of the State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Biology, is the senior author and postdoctoral fellow Cuiling Lu is the first author. Stephanie Sherman, PhD, professor of human genetics at Emory, is a co-author.

The mouse model builds on research on women who are carriers of a "premutation" for fragile X syndrome, a leading cause of inherited intellectual disability.

The mice have a fragment of a human X chromosome from a fragile X premutation carrier. Other non-genetic mouse models used to study menopause include surgical removal of the ovaries, or exposure of mice to a chemical, 4-vinylcyclohexene diepoxide, which depletes the ovaries.

"While the fragile X premutation is a leading cause of POI, I think this model will be useful and relevant for all women with this condition," Jin says.

Read the original:
Early menopause: A genetic mouse model of human primary ovarian insufficiency

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