Genetic Susceptibility to Joint Occurrence of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis: How Far Is Our Understanding?

Abstract

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Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) are endocrine disorders that commonly occur among young women. A higher prevalence of HT in women with PCOS, relative to healthy individuals, is observed consistently. Combined occurrence of both diseases is associated with a higher risk of severe metabolic and reproductive complications. Genetic factors strongly impact the pathogenesis of both PCOS and HT and several susceptibility loci associated with a higher risk of both disorders have been identified. Furthermore, some candidate gene polymorphisms are thought to be functionally relevant; however, few genetic variants are proposed to be causally associated with the incidence of both disorders together.

Keywords

• autoimmune thyroid disease
• Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
• polycystic ovary syndrome
• genetic variants
• association studies
• susceptibility loci