PCOS Twin Study - Environmental Factors in the Development of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Phase 2

Completed

Conditions studied: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

In brief

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, or PCOS, is the most common endocrine disorder in women. Depending on the strictness of the diagnostic criteria used, it is thought to occur in about 6-10% of all women, many of whom do not know they have the syndrome. Women with PCOS produce abnormally high levels of male hormones (hyperandrogenism); this counteracts their ovaries' ability to make enough of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone needed for normal menstruation. PCOS is the number one cause of hormonally related infertility and also increases women's risks for diabetes, high blood pressure, hypercholesteremia, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers. It is currently unclear to what extent PCOS and PCOS-associated traits (hyperandrogenisms, hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, obesity, and coronary artery disease) are the results of environmental factors or genetic predisposition. Therefore, the NIEHS Program in Clinical Research is conducting a multi-phase twin study to measure the extent of PCOS heritability and to identify environmental and genetic factors involved in the development of PCOS. The proposal described here is for Phase 2 of this study. The goals of Phase 2 are to: 1) establish more reliable concordance rates and baseline heritability estimates for PCOS in MZ and DZ twins; and 2) establish a cohort of intact MZ and DZ female twin pairs as a resource for future studies. In Phase 1, about 1500 individual female twins were identified from the Mid-Atlantic Twin Registry (MATR) based on self report of a history of irregular periods and/or cystic ovaries in the MATR General Health Screening Questionnaire. Those twins were surveyed by phone for other traits associated with PCOS. In Phase 2, the twins most likely to have PCOS based on their answers to the Phase 1 phone survey will be recontacted for further PCOS screening. This includes providing a blood sample for measuring bioavailable testosterone (BaT) levels. Women with elevated BaT levels are likely to have PCOS. The women with elevated levels will then be asked to undergo a medical evaluation for PCOS confirmation. This includes a physical exam, medical history, ultrasound, 2-hour glucose tolerance and other biochemical blood tests, and a Ferriman-Gallwey evaluation for abnormal hirsutism (another characteristic of PCOS). The women will also be tested for pregnancy and zygosity. Their female co-twins will be invited to undergo...

Key facts

Study ID

NCT00444288

Run by

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

Starts

2007-02-27

Expected to finish

2010-03-01

Last updated by the study team

2017-07-02

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: female. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may not qualify if…

• Women will be excluded from the study if they are pregnant or have given birth within the past six months.
• Women will also be excluded if they are currently menopausal or past menopause.
• Women with any condition that, in the opinion of the investigators, could affect the validity of the study results will be excluded from participating.
• Subjects will not be excluded based on race, ethnicity or religion.

Where it is running

• Duke University Medical Center — Durham, North Carolina, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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