Context: Two genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have identified 11 susceptibility loci in Chinese individuals. Some of the risk loci identified in Chinese cohorts, mostly from the first GWAS, have been replicated in Europeans. Replication of the loci from the second GWAS in European cohorts is necessary to determine whether the same variants confer risk for PCOS in multiple ethnicities.
Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the effects of the Chinese GWAS loci in European-origin individuals.
Design: This was a genetic association study.
Setting: The study was conducted at a tertiary care academic center.
Patients: Eight hundred forty-five European subjects with PCOS and 845 controls participated in the study.
Interventions: INTERVENTIONS included blood sampling and genotyping.
Main outcome measure: The association between PCOS and 12 independent single-nucleotide polymorphisms mapping to seven of the Chinese GWAS loci in a European cohort was measured.
Results: Variants in DENND1A (P = .0002), THADA (P = .035), FSHR (P = .007), and INSR (P = .046) were associated with PCOS in Europeans. The genetic risk score, generated for each subject based on the total number of risk alleles, was associated with the diagnosis of PCOS (P < .0001) and remained associated (P = .02), even after exclusion of the four variants individually associated with PCOS.
Conclusions: At least four of the PCOS susceptibility loci identified in the Chinese GWAS are associated with PCOS in Europeans. The overall genetic burden for PCOS, as demonstrated by the risk score, is also associated with the diagnosis of PCOS in Europeans. The PCOS susceptibility loci identified in the Chinese GWAS are thus likely to play an important role in the etiology of PCOS across ethnicities.