Skip Navigation


Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on March 11, 2009
Human Reproduction 2009 24(7):1548-1555; doi:10.1093/humrep/dep049
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF )
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
24/7/1548    most recent
dep049v1
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Homburg, R.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Homburg, R.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

OPINION

Androgen circle of polycystic ovary syndrome

Roy Homburg1,2,3

1 Reproductive Medicine Division, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam 1007 MB, The Netherlands 2 Barzilai Medical Centre, Ashkelon, Israel

3 Correspondence address. E-mail: r.homburg{at}vumc.nl

Although the aetiology of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is still not known and the search for causative genes is proving elusive, it is generally agreed that hyperandrogenism is at the heart of the syndrome. Here, it is proposed that excess androgens are the root cause of PCOS starting from their influence on the female fetus in programming gene expression, producing the characteristic signs and symptoms which are then exacerbated by a propagation of excess ovarian androgen production from multiple small follicles, anovulation and insulin resistance in the reproductive life-span, thus setting up a vicious perpetual circle of androgen excess. This opinion paper, rather than being a full-scale review, is intentionally biased in support of this hypothesis that androgen excess is the ‘root of all evil’ in PCOS; in the hope that its acceptance could lead to more direct treatment of the syndrome in all its facets rather than the symptomatic treatment of side effects of androgen excess that we are addressing today.

Key words: androgens/polycystic ovary syndrome/ovary/anovulation


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Hum ReprodHome page
W. H. James
A new method for testing a hypothesis on a cause of polycystic ovary syndrome
Hum. Reprod., November 1, 2009; 24(11): 2968 - 2968.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Hum ReprodHome page
R. Homburg
Reply: A new method for testing a hypothesis on a cause of polycystic ovary syndrome
Hum. Reprod., October 24, 2009; (2009) dep330v1.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.