英国研究人员日前报告说，他们发现了与更年期到来时间相关的基因，有望帮助女性预测生育年龄，避免出现由于更年期过早出现而导致的不育。
英国埃克塞特大学等机构研究人员在新一期《人类分子遗传学》杂志上报告说，他们对2000名过早出现更年期，即45岁以前就绝经的妇女进行了基因分析，结果发现了4个与更年期过早出现有关的基因。其中，每个基因都会增加更年期过早到来的风险，如果携带全部4个基因，过早出现更年期的风险将大幅上升。
领导研究的安娜·默里说，通常妇女从绝经前10年开始生育能力就会逐渐下降，而英国妇女中过早出现更年期的比例约为5%，这部分女性如果要孩子的计划太晚，到时可能就无法生育。研究人员希望能在本次成果基础上研发出一种检测技术，帮助女性更早预知自己生育年龄的期限。
据介绍，现在有一些通过检查激素变化来预测更年期的技术，但只能在绝经前两三年进行预测，那时女性可能已快要失去生育能力。研究人员表示，如果能从基因层面入手进行预测，将有望将预测的时间大大提前，并提高预测的准确性。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐英文摘要：
Hum.Mol.Genet.(2010) doi:10.1093/hmg/ddq417
Common genetic variants are significant risk factors for early menopause: results from the Breakthrough Generations Study
Anna Murray1,*, Claire E. Bennett1, John R.B. Perry1, Michael N. Weedon1, ReproGen Consortium, Patricia A. Jacobs2, Danielle H. Morris3, Nicholas Orr4, Minouk J. Schoemaker3, Michael Jones3, Alan Ashworth4 and Anthony J. Swerdlow3
1Peninsula Medical School, University of Exeter, St Lukes, ExeterEX1 2LU, UK,
2Wessex Regional Genetics, Salisbury District Hospital, SalisburySP2 8BJ, UK,
3Section of Epidemiology, The Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, SurreySM2 5NG, UK and
4Breakthrough Research Centre, The Institute of Cancer Research, 237 Fulham Road, LondonSW3 6JB, UK
Women become infertile approximately 10 years before menopause, and as more women delay childbirth into their 30s, the number of women who experience infertility is likely to increase. Tests that predict the timing of menopause would allow women to make informed reproductive decisions. Current predictors are only effective just prior to menopause, and there are no long-range indicators. Age at menopause and early menopause (EM) are highly heritable, suggesting a genetic aetiology. Recent genome-wide scans have identified four loci associated with variation in the age of normal menopause (40–60 years). We aimed to determine whether theses loci are also risk factors for EM. We tested the four menopause-associated genetic variants in a cohort of approximately 2000 women with menopause ≤45 years from the Breakthrough Generations Study (BGS). All four variants significantly increased the odds of having EM. Comparing the 4.5% of individuals with the lowest number of risk alleles (two or three) with the 3.0% with the highest number (eight risk alleles), the odds ratio was 4.1 (95% CI 2.4–7.1, P = 4.0 × 10?7). In combination, the four variants discriminated EM cases with a receiver operator characteristic area under the curve of 0.6. Four common genetic variants identified by genome-wide association studies, had a significant impact on the odds of having EM in an independent cohort from the BGS. The discriminative power is still limited, but as more variants are discovered they may be useful for predicting reproductive lifespan.
