Age at menarche and polycystic ovary syndrome: A Mendelian randomization study

The authors aimed to use a large two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study to reveal the causality between age at menarche (AAM) and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) incidence.

The authors collected summary statistics from the hitherto largest genome-wide association studies conducted in AAM and PCOS in the same ancestry. MR with inverse variance weighting was conducted as the main analysis method, while weighted median and MR-Egger regression were used for comprehensive analysis. As for pleiotropy detection, inverse variance weighting, MR-Egger regression, Mendelian Randomization Pleiotropy Residual Sum and Outlier, as well as leave-one-out analysis were used to detect pleiotropy. Risk factor analysis was conducted to investigate the underlying mechanisms linking AAM to PCOS.

Each standard deviation increment in AAM was associated with a significantly lower incidence of PCOS (odds ratio, 0.86 [95% confidence interval, 0.75-0.98]). After adjustment in horizontal pleiotropy by eliminating four outliers, this pathogenic association was still statistically detected. All pleiotropy indexes were without statistical differences, which suggested the conclusions were robust. It showed the causal association between later AAM and lower body mass index, lower fasting insulin level and insulin resistance.

Our MR analysis verified that a slightly later onset age (15 to 18 years) at menarche could reduce the risk of PCOS. A more comprehensive investigation in a prospective setting is strongly advised.