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U.VA. HEALTH SYSTEM RESEARCHERS RECEIVE $5.5 MILLION TO STUDY HORMONAL DISORDER

The National Institutes of Health has awarded $5.5 million over five years to the University of Virginia Center for Research in Reproduction, and is a renewal of an NIH grant to study polycystic ovarian disease, one of the most common hormonal disorders in women.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), also known as Stein-Leventhal syndrome, causes women to have a variety of symptoms, including irregular or no periods, infertility problems, excess facial hair, obesity and high insulin levels, and increased rates of uterine cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

“Although doctors have known since the 1930s that PCOS was related to fertility problems, it is only in the last five to 10 years that doctors have discovered that there are underlying, more serious health risks associated with the disorder,” said Dr. John Marshall, professor of internal medicine at U.Va. Health System and the principal investigator of the study.  “The purpose of this study is to examine the two leading theories as to the cause of the syndrome and hopefully, uncover the root problem.”

The first theory is that PCOS is caused by an abnormality in the part of the brain, the hypothalamus, which causes an incorrect hormone signal to be sent to the ovaries.  This “wrong message” tells the ovaries to produce too much male hormone, Marshall said.  The second theory is that the real problem is in the ovary itself; either its ability to manufacture the steroid hormones – male and female – is out of balance, or insulin is somehow changing the way the ovaries make steroid hormones.

“Of course, it could be facets of all three,” Marshall said.

The research team at U.Va., which includes Drs. Margaret Shupnik, Suzanne Moenter and Daniel Haisenleder, will study the disorder from both a clinical and basic science perspective.  The clinical trial, which focuses on ovarian responses to signaling mechanisms, is a joint project with Dr. John Nestler of the Medical College of Virginia.

U.Va.’s Center was one of only three reproduction centers in the country to receive funding from NIH, and the only center to be renewed.  The other centers are Northwestern University and the University of Chicago.

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August 22, 2003