Objective: To examine whether the insulin receptor (INSR) gene contributes to genetic susceptibility to the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
Design: Case-control study.
Setting: Academic endocrinology clinic.
Patient(s): Ninety-nine women with PCOS as defined by the National Institutes of Health consensus and polycystic ovaries on ultrasonography, and 136 healthy controls.
Main outcome measure: Frequency of genotypes of a single nucleotide polymorphism of the INSR gene in patients and controls.
Result(s): After stratification of participants by body mass index, the frequency of the uncommon T allele of the INSR single nucleotide polymorphism was significantly increased in lean patients with PCOS (body mass index < or =27 kg/m2) compared with lean controls (relative risk, 2.1).
Conclusion(s): The INSR gene is a susceptibility gene for PCOS among lean patients with PCOS. It remains to be determined whether the exon 17 C/T single nucleotide polymorphism is the susceptibility single nucleotide polymorphism for PCOS or whether it is in linkage disequilibrium with another INSR gene polymorphism.