Reproduction Abstracts

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common cause of anovulatory infertility but typically is also associated with insulin resistance, disordered energy balance and a predisposition to develop type 2 diabetes mellitus. Anovulation is characterised by arrest of antral follicles but there is compelling evidence for disordered regulation of the early stages of preantral follicle development in the ovaries of women with PCOS. Dysregulation of local growth factor function appears to play a significant part in abnormal preantral follicle development. Paradoxically, although PCOS causes ovulatory dysfunction, the fertility and fecundity of women with symptoms of PCOS in the general population is not compromised to the degree that might be expected. Family size is slightly smaller but women with PCOS have at least one child as often as those in the normal population cohort. The metabolic dysfunction associated with PCOS may have an evolutionary role in maintaining fertility in the population at times of food shortage (Corbett & Morin-Papunen 2013 Mol Cell Endocrinol 2013 373 29–50).