[Study on parents phenotypes in women with polycystic ovary syndrome]

To explore the parents phenotypes in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Clinical data were collected by questionnaires from 139 parents of women with PCOS and from 137 parents of controls with normal menses. It was compared for the distribution of mother's menses irregularity, father's premature balding and parents hypertension by chi-square tests among parents of the PCOS group and of the controls. A multiple Logistic regression model was applied for more detailed analyses.

The prevalences of mother's menses irregularity, the incidence of father's premature balding and father's hypertension was significantly higher in PCOS group (38.1%, 19.4% and 30.9%, respectively) than in the controls (3.6%, 5.1% and 16.1%, respectively P < 0.01). The prevalence of mother's hypertension was higher in the PCOS group (23.0%) than in the controls (13.9%), but the difference was not significant (P = 0.06). When mother's menses irregularity, father's premature balding and father's hypertension were entered the Logistic regression model, all the odds ratio (OR) values were still much higher than 1 (P < 0.005). The partial regression coefficients of the three predictors changed little when they were entered the model in turn. The partial regression coefficients for father's age was very small when it entered the model as a possible confounding factor(P > 0.05). The differences between maximum -2log likelihoods used to evaluate the role responsible for the occurrence of PCOS in their daughters indicated that: mother's menses irregularity > father's premature balding > father's hypertension.

In addition to mother's menses irregularity and father's premature balding, father's hypertension may also be an independent phenotype in families of women with PCOS.