PON1 gene variant may explain elevated insulin resistance in PCOS
Source: Human Reproduction 2006; Advance online publication
Evaluating the impact of the PON1-108C/T polymorphism on the serum paraoxonase activity of women with polycystic ovary syndrome.
Among women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), carriage of the PON1 gene is a more significant predictor of serum paraoxonase activity and insulin resistance than the presence of PCOS itself, research shows.
The researchers note that women with PCOS are often insulin-resistant, and such women also show reduced serum paraoxonase activity, an enzyme that is encoded by the PON1 gene.
This led the team to investigate the impact of paraoxonase activity and PON1-108C/T genotypes in 139 PCOS patients and 85 healthy matched controls.
Héctor Escobar-Morreale, from Hospital Universitario Ramón y Cajal, in Madrid, Spain found that women homozygous for -108T had significantly reduced serum paraoxonase activity compared with carriers of C alleles, whether they had PCOS or not.
Moreover, although women with PCOS were more likely to be homozygous for T alleles compared with controls, serum paraoxonase activity was similar in the two groups.
Linear regression analyses revealed that homozygosity for PON1-108T alleles was the only significant predictor of serum paraoxonase activity
The scientists explain that decreased paraoxonase activity may result in oxidative stress and may contribute to inflammation, insulin resistance and cardiovascular risk more frequently in PCOS patients than in controls.
"The PON1-108C/T polymorphism, and not PCOS, is an important determinant of serum paraoxonase activity," they conclude.
Posted: 23 November 2006
http://www.orgyn.com/en/news/2006/We...90451374537037
PON1 gene variant may explain elevated insulin resistance in PCOS 
